


A Binding Promise

by emeraldvssilver



Series: A Binding Promise [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Basically what happens when Draco isn't a dick, Good Draco Malfoy, Hogwarts Fifth Year, M/M, Magical Bond, Magical Oath, Plot with a bit of Porn, Remus/Sirius if you look hard enough, Sexually Experienced Characters, Sirius Black Lives, Top/Bottom Versatile Draco Malfoy, Top/Bottom Versatile Harry Potter, Wordcount: Over 100.000, completed fic, opposite of slow burn, updated daily
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-03
Updated: 2020-11-22
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:01:19
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 58
Words: 132,783
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24522037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emeraldvssilver/pseuds/emeraldvssilver
Summary: “Draco, I promise I will protect you. With everything I am, and everything I have, I will protect you.”Harry's power was an immovable force of nature, and Draco's magic parted for it like it was welcoming an old lover back into it's warm embrace. The Oath took root around Harry's core as he unwittingly bound himself to Draco, and bound himself to his promise.How will Harry survive his Fifth year at Hogwarts when he has the DA to run, Umbridge to avoid, a Dark Lord invading his dreams, and a magical binding Oath forcing him to protect the only boy who had ever caught his attention?
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter
Series: A Binding Promise [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2023951
Comments: 304
Kudos: 1009





	1. Chapter 1

“This is so fucking dumb.” Draco murmured under his breath as he was pulled a few inches closer by the hand buried in the front of his robes.

“Yep.”

“We are getting ourselves into a whole bunch of trouble.” Draco said, continuing his protests as he allowed Harry to move even closer.

“Probably.”

“Are you even bothered?” Draco asked, as his chest finally pressed fully against Harry’s and Harry’s firm thigh found its way between his own. His mouth hovering only inches away.

“Nope.”

“But we- “

“Malfoy. Shut up.” Harry murmured, any former heat that would be behind his words must have been stored in his cock cause that’s all Draco could feel as he leaned forward and met Harry's lips with his own. It took them both a second to situate themselves. Their noses bumped together awkwardly, and Harry’s neck was tilted at a weird angle, but once they had it figured out it was awesome. Fire bloomed in his lower stomach as Harry’s tongue licked its way into his mouth. Turning their kiss from awkward to downright filthy in a matter of seconds. Draco wouldn’t like to exaggerate his own skills, but he’d kissed his fair share of people, men and women, and he was pretty damn good at it. But Harry had skills. Skills that had Draco gripping his shoulders, stopping himself from collapsing to the floor when his knees failed to support him. One of Harry's arms clamped around his waist like a steel band (obviously sensing his current knee predicament), while his other hand cupped the back of Draco’s neck and tugged lightly at the hair at the base of his skull. His tongue was doing dastardly things and Draco was following his lead, pressing as close as was possible with the layers of clothing still between them. Their bodies moved together. Hips grinding against hips. It was only when he could feel himself climbing towards climax that he put both of his hands against Harry’s chest and pushed away.

“Wha?” Harry breathed out. Dazed from being ripped away from Draco’s soft mouth.

“I’m not cumming in my underwear like some kind of degenerate. Especially not in a dusty broom shed. I do have some class, you know?”

“You have a great fucking mouth, I know that for sure.” Harry replied., but he took Draco’s words to heart and let his arms fall away so the Slytherin could take a step back. Harry was panting slightly, and a sheen of sweat had sprung up across his skin from the heat that had fired up between them. Draco watched him lean back against the closed and locked door of the broom shed. His trousers still tented slightly, and Draco tried not to eye him up, dragging his eyes away every time they drifted down towards Harry’s straining fly. He then swiped the hem of his shirt across his forehead, lifting his shirt a few inches and giving Draco a sneak peek at his stomach. Tanned abs told Draco two things, that Harry regularly had his shirt off outside in the sun, and that he was really, incredibly, fucking fit. He must work out on a regular basis because there was no way abs like that came from Quidditch alone.

“You look sexy like this.” Harry commented. He had been checking Draco out at the same time as Draco had been checking him out. He admired the way Draco’s pale skin was flushed with the glow of desire. His grey irises were almost completely taken over by the black of his pupils and his lips were plump and red, a few shades darker from the pale pink they had been before Harry had captured them under his own.

“I look a mess. I bet my hair is all over the place, you had your hands all over it.” He pulled out his wand and spelled his hair back to its usual coiffed appearance.

“Your hair looks sexy when it’s a bit messy, makes you look approachable.”

“I’m not supposed to look approachable!” Draco balked, “I’m a Malfoy!”

Harry grinned and chuckled as Draco lifted his chin and pretended to look outraged at the insinuation. Last year the move would have made Harry want to hex him, but now, with his pupils blown wide and his lips swollen, Harry just wanted to pull him back into another kiss. His haughty better-than-thou look was actually…cute.

The easy mood between them soon dropped, and they stood in silence. Harry was leaning back against the door, he had his arms crossed, and his head was tilted back far enough to be looking at the ceiling. Draco had taken a seat opposite him on top of a crate of practice Quaffles and had settled with his forearms resting against his knees. The sheen of sweat had disappeared from Harry’s forehead, and the redness of Draco’s lips returned to their usual pale pink as the deep flush from his skin faded.

“What do we do now?” Draco asked some minutes later, as he looked down at the stone flagstones.

“We could go fuck?” Harry quirked a grin at him, showing Draco that he was mostly joking. Although if he had agreed he knew Harry would drag him to a bed as quickly as it took for them to get there.

“I mean it.” Draco said.

“That depends on what you want from this.” Harry shrugged. He sounded casual, but Draco could tell that his shoulders had tensed up, and there was a subtle clench to his jaw that spoke louder than words.

“I think it’s obvious that I want you.” Draco replied, he was avoiding the question, he knew it and Harry knew it. He wasn’t a Gryffindor; he wasn’t about to lay down his thoughts and feelings for Harry to just shoot him down. “What do you want?” Draco asked Harry.

“I want you.” Harry said, Draco expected him to leave it there, but he forgot that there was a reason Harry was a Gryffindor, “I want you now, I want you next week, I want you next month. However long you want me, is how long I want you.” There was no misunderstanding that. And the words hung heavily in the air. Saying something like that in the heat of a passionate moment was one thing, but here, in the silence of the broom shed where the passion between them had dulled to a strange frisson in the air, it seemed almost too raw. Too real. Maybe even too much, for one person to handle. 

Or it would have been too much, if Draco hadn't cleared his throat and asked. “What if…” He trailed off, and summoned any and every ounce of Gryffindor courage that might have been buried deep inside, “What if that turns out to be a very long time?” He raised his eyes to meet Harry's.

“I think I’d prefer that.” Draco flushed again at Harry's simple answer and averted his eyes back to the flagstone floor in deep thought.

“The war?”

“I can give you protection, I can help you.” Harry offered. He wanted to touch Draco. Wanted to approach him and run his hand through his perfect hair. Wanted to kiss him and comfort him, tell him that everything would be okay. But Draco had pushed him back once already and Harry really didn’t want to push his luck.

“I need to think... I think.” Draco’s brow wrinkled in thought. Everything inside him was torn between accepting Harry and rejecting him. Harry sensed that the conversation was over and he stood up straight, stretched his arms above his head and motioned towards the door.

“We should go back to the castle anyway. It’ll be dinner soon and I need a shower. The tower is a little further to go than the Dungeons.” Malfoy looked up at him sharply.

“How do you know?”

“Ah, well, we kind of Polyjuiced as Goyle and Crabbe in second year to see if you were the Heir of Slytherin.”

“You WHAT!?” Draco exclaimed, amidst Harry bursting into laughter.

“Yeah, sorry about that. Anyway, dinner?” Harry unlocked the door with a flick of his wand, he ignored Draco’s indignant outrage and laughed off the Slytherin’s spluttering behind him.

He hurried up to Gryffindor tower, using every shortcut he knew so that he could shower quickly and still make it down to the Great Hall without everyone suspecting he was up to something. He hurried through the common room and climbed up to the dormitory, almost running head first into Ron in the open doorway to their shared dorm.

“There you are Harry, Hermione’s been looking for you everywhere. Where have you been?”

“I needed to do a bit of flying, I’ve missed a few practices.”

“Fucking Umbridge.” Harry laughed and nodded in agreement, as he pushed passed him into the dorm room. He pulled off his shirt and threw it over his trunk as he went, “I’m gonna head down to the Great Hall, how long are you gonna be?”

“I need to shower but I won’t be too long, don’t bother waiting for me though. If you see Hermione, will you let her know I’ll be down soon?”

“Sure thing.” Ron left the dormitory and headed down to the common room, leaving Harry alone amongst the red and gold decor. He grabbed everything he would need for a shower and set himself up in the furthest stall from the door.

The water sluiced over his skin and in the silence of the bathroom his thoughts wandered to Malfoy. Ever since first year he had always had at least one eye on him. He used to think about how much of a pretentious twat he was, with his stupid blonde hair that Harry could have sworn was dyed (until he'd seen Lucius Malfoy with the exact same hair colour). Harry used to hate the way he'd receive parcels weekly, always showing off the box full of sweet treats from home. Harry always used to think he was rubbing it in everyone's faces but it really was just the product of a loving Mother. Seamus got parcels almost weekly too, but Harry never hated him for it. And the way he always excelled in Potions, Harry always put that down to favouritism, but after a year of sitting behind him in class Harry had to admit that Draco really did have some skill in the area. The amount of times something had flown into his potion without causing any irreparable damage was testament to how well he could judge a potion. Even if he was using this knowledge for evil rather than good.

All it came down to, was Harry not hating him anymore. How could he? Ever since the start of term Draco had withdrawn into himself. He had begun to create distance between him and the other Slytherins, at least as much as he could without tipping anyone off. Other people might not have noticed but Harry had, after four years of watching him Harry knew that something had happened over the summer. Something to change his mind about how great and wonderful Voldemort was. And seeing him today on the Quidditch pitch, holding the snitch over his head in delight at finally out flying ‘Harry Potter’, Harry had to admit that he had maybe fallen just a little bit in love with him.

A great ear-splitting grin had been plastered across his face. His previously stupid blonde hair was windswept and feathered across his forehead, having broken free from the spelled confines of its usual perfectly manicured appearance. There had been a streak of dirt smudged across his cheek and collected under his fingernails and around his nail beds, he had been chasing the snitch so close to the ground that when the snitch darted out of his reach at the last second he caught nothing more than a handful of mud. Luckily he was more successful the second time round, his fingers had closed over the snitch in a vice like grip and in that moment Harry had seen the human side to Draco Malfoy. And he was the most beautiful person Harry had ever looked at. So he had called over to Draco to release the snitch, and bet him that he couldn't catch it again.

Harry only realised how long he had been in the shower when he noticed how pruned his fingers had become. He had to jump out and quickly throw some clothes on before running down to the great hall, with his hair still dripping wet and stuck flat to his head from the weight of the water. He flopped down at the Gryffindor table, sitting down on the bench next to Ron who was already finishing up his dessert.

"You jerk off or something mate? That was the longest shower you've ever had." Harry laughed and punched him in the arm before grabbing himself a helping of everything nearby.

"Nah, just lost track of time."

"Yeah, okay, let's pretend I believe that."

Harry just laughed again and started to dig in. After a few mouthfuls he looked up and caught the pale grey eyes he had been staring into earlier. Draco was watching him. And suddenly Harry was hyper aware of his still wet hair casually dripping down the back of his neck, and aware that he'd grabbed a shirt that was slightly too tight, so much so that it stretched across his shoulders and arms as he moved. His sudden growth spurt over the summer had made some of his shirts a little too close fitting, Sirius had replaced most of them but he had kept hold one or two of his favourites. Harry blushed at the scrutiny, but sent a quick small smile towards Draco before turning back to Ron.

"Where's Hermione?"

"She finished ages ago, she's still looking for you though. I think she's researching something for us to practice." Ron put down his spoon after finishing his dessert and watched Harry eating, waiting for him to finish.

"Go back up to Gryffindor if you want. Don't need to wait for me."

"Yeah, okay, might go drag Hermione out of the library too. That girl needs some serious downtime."

"See you later." Harry said as Ron stood and walked away.

He turned back to Draco, who was rising to his feet along with a few other Slytherins, Crabbe and Goyle being two of them. He turned to look at Harry briefly before exiting the hall with his peers. Harry allowed himself a private silly smile and scarfed the rest of his dinner before the plates cleared.


	2. Chapter 2

“You have to mean it!” Harry shouted above the buzz of Hogwarts students casting Stupefy on each other, “Remember the movements, keep it fluid. Duelling is all about being fluid, the end of one spell has to form the beginning of your next spell.”

“Ginny can you switch to Cho please, you’re casting it really well and she needs a few pointers. And Luna can you partner with Marietta?” Harry asked as he beckoned the other duelling pair closer, he had been trying to switch around the pairings to make sure that everyone who was struggling with the spell was working with someone who had already mastered it. It also stopped friends from grouping together all the time, with these new arrangements they were learning spells faster than ever before and Harry couldn’t be prouder.

“Okay guys, ten more minutes and then feel free to go. You’ve all done really well today.” And they had, Colin Creevey had managed to land most of his spells this time and had improved from just knocking someone off their feet to actually stunning them for a good minute. After he got frustrated with himself, Harry had reminded him that a minute in a life or death situation would be a good head start, at least enough to snap the other person's wand and get away.

“Where were you yesterday?” Hermione asked as she began to pick up pillows from around the room as the students started leaving in groups of two and three. Ron gave them a quick wave before leaving with Neville, he’d managed to bow out of helping with the clean up because he still had half a foot of Charms essay to complete and in Hermione’s words, he needed every minute he could get.

“When?” Harry asked, thinking back to his steamy encounter in the broom shed.

“Before dinner, I was looking for you, I found a couple of spells that I thought we could try. I thought they’d be good for the group to learn.” Harry glanced around at the other students still milling around, waiting to leave.

“Just went out for a fly, Umbridge made me miss a few practices so I thought I’d let the snitch go a few times.” Harry left out the part where Malfoy had turned up halfway through and had caught the snitch at the opposite side of the stadium to where Harry was flying entirely. Initiating a bit of a competition. And he especially missed out the part where he found himself locked in the broom shed with his tongue in Malfoys mouth. Hermione just nodded at his explanation and dropped the last pillow onto the big pile in the corner of the room.

“What spells did you find?” He asked. She smiled at him and began telling him about a simple healing charm that might stop someone from bleeding out if they were hit with a cutting curse, and a spell that would transfigure an inanimate item into a weapon.

“…The book mentions swords specifically but I’m sure there’s other things, knives maybe.”

“Why would someone need a knife if they have a wand though?”

“What if there’s a group of people and only one of them has a wand?” Hermione countered. They had since left the room of requirement and were wandering the corridors back up to Gryffindor tower.

“Good point. Yeah, let’s practice those before the next lesson. I think we should finish stunners next and I think move onto Patronus after that. I think that one will take a few weeks to learn and it’ll give everyone the motivation they need over the Christmas holidays.”

“I agree. What about …” Hermione trailed off, stopping in her tracks and staring at the person who had stepped out of the Transfiguration classroom in front of them.  
Malfoy. By himself. He looked up from the parchment in his hand. The corner of his lips curled upwards in a barely there smile when he saw Harry but when his eyes caught on Hermione his expression steeled once more. He stuffed the parchment into his bag but didn’t attempt to move or walk away. Draco wasn’t entirely sure why he had felt the need to stop in his tracks, he was pretty sure that their brief snogging session had negated the need for a fight or flight response, but he couldn’t be entirely sure how the girl would react and if he was about to be hexed he would rather it not be aimed at his back.

“Transfiguration essay?” Harry asked, nodding at the parchment still half hanging out of his bag.

“Yes.” Draco’s reply was short, his eyes darting between Harry and Hermione. He didn’t particularly want it known that he was visiting McGonagall during her office hours.

“How did you do?” He asked, as Hermione started tugging insistently at his wrist in a frantic bid to prevent whatever fight she was sure was coming. She wasn’t sure what game he was playing with Malfoy, but she certainly wasn’t willing to provide Umbridge with a reason to extend Harry’s detentions.

“EE.” Malfoys lip curled in disgust, “Fucking joke, should have been an O.”

“What did McGonagall say?”

“Said I needed more focus on the practical aspects of the spell, not just the theory. Apparently, I could have given more examples of what could happen if it was mis-cast.” Draco had pulled the parchment out again and was reading from the notes that McGonagall had written at the bottom of his essay. Hermione’s eyes were practically bugging out of her skull at the brief but amicable exchange between the Gryffindor and the Slytherin. She had absolutely no idea what was going on between them, Malfoy was being rather civil for a change and neither of them were goading each other into a fight.

“You’ll get there next time.” Harry shrugged.

“That’s not the point.” Draco was silent for a couple of seconds, “Erm, curfew soon. I’d better…” He motioned over his shoulder in the direction of the staircase that would take him to the Entrance Hall and then on to the dungeons. 

“If you go down a floor to the Barking Mad Gargoyle on the balcony, under him is a set of stairs that lead straight to the Entrance Hall. They move so it’ll cut a good ten minutes off. He talks though and he’s a bit of a dick but he’ll move if you ask nicely.” Harry directed, and Draco’s lips quirked again in concealed gratitude.

“Thanks…” His eyes darted to Hermione once more, “Potter.” He said before turning on his heel and finally walking away. Harry wished Draco wasn’t wearing his outer robe so he could see that glorious arse swaying away from him.

“Harry, for Christ's sake, Harry!” Hermione was tugging his arm even harder and was hissing his name in his ear to pull his attention away from the retreating Slytherin, “What the bloody hell was that about?”

“You sound like Ron,” Harry grinned at her.

“Harry!” She warned, with a stomp of her foot and the crossing of her arms, the typical stance she adopted whenever one of her boys was being particularly pig headed.

“Fine... Okay... Erm.... Don’t tell Ron. Not yet anyway. I will tell him, but it needs to be at the right time because he will absolutely flip.”

“What is going on between you and Malfoy? Whatever you’re doing, is it dangerous? Because we can’t afford for Malfoy to be telling Umbridge anything, she’s already onto us about the DA.”

“It’s not anything like that. It’s not bad. It’s good. Really good. Seriously, really fucking good.” Harry grinned widely.

“Oh. My. God.” Hermione took a step back in surprise, “Are you sleeping with him? With Malfoy?!” She looked at him, absolutely gobsmacked.

“We haven’t slept together.” Harry paused, “Not yet anyway. He’s... Considering things.”

“I want you to tell me everything.” She grabbed his arm and pulled him along to Gryffindor tower so that they wouldn’t miss the curfew. Harry started telling her all about how Malfoy had joined him for his Quidditch practice. How they’d laughed as Malfoy had tried to copy Harry’s Wronski Feint but landed on his face instead. His moaning, wailing more like, about how his face was probably ruined now, his nose probably broken and misshapen, how Harry had cast a quick cleaning charm at Draco’s face and told him not to worry because he was still pretty. And how it had developed from there, moving from the pitch and into the broom shed when Harry had put away the Snitch he had been practising with.

“But he’s dangerous Harry, who knows how he’s playing you.”

“I don’t think he is Hermione.”

“How do you know?”

“He just, well he could have done anything to me. We were in there for quite a while. We, you know, did THAT," Harry raised his eyebrows a couple of times to get his point across, "But we chatted for a bit too. And I wanted more, he’s the one that stopped us.” Harry stopped them just outside the common room, the fat lady looked down at them in anticipation, “Will you please trust me Hermione. If anything starts to feel shady, I’ll let you know, but I think this is real.”

“I’ll leave you to it, and I won’t tell Ron just yet, but I’ll be watching you to make sure you’re okay. It’s all a bit sudden though, isn’t it? You’re panting after him already, but you’ve only snogged once.”

“I’ve been watching him for a while though, I know him, and he knows me. He’s different this year, quieter, more reserved, I think Voldemort being back has changed something in him.” Harry smiled to himself and rubbed the back of his neck, “And he’s incredibly fit and an extremely great kisser.”

“Harry!” Hermione was blushing but she was smiling too. Harry was right, there had been the usual goading from Malfoy, a few insults tossed about, but they hadn’t got into any physical fights so far. The insults were banal, without the cutting edge of Malfoys usual intellect. He seemed to be focusing more on his studies, than on the rivalry between the Slytherins and the Gryffindors.

“I’ve offered him the Orders protection. If he wants it.”

“I guess you’d better speak to Sirius then, and Dumbledore.”

“If he accepts me.” Hermione leaned up and kissed him on the cheek.

“If this is real then he’d be daft not to.” She smiled at him and then spoke the password to the Fat Lady and led the way into the Common room.


	3. Chapter 3

Harry came out of detention with a hole almost bitten through his bottom lip, he'd long since figured out that it was the best way to hide just how much pain he was in, especially in front of Umbridge. He dabbed at the slow bleeding on the back of his hand with one of Hermione's handkerchiefs which she had stuffed into his hand before he had left the common room earlier that evening. He blew on the jagged lines etched into his skin in a rather failed attempt to soothe the sting that was radiating outwards, and he hurried on towards the Gryffindor common room where Hermione would be waiting with a bowl of Murtlap essence to help heal him. 

The phrase “I must not tell lies” was still weeping slightly when someone grabbed his arm and pulled him behind a tapestry. Harry’s wand was in his hand and against a throat in a second. A long pale throat. One that Harry was becoming rather familiar with. Draco, on the other hand, was going cockeyed as he tried and failed to keep his eyes trained on Harry's wand.

“Shit, sorry.” Harry quickly tucked his wand away and reached up to touch the side of Draco’s throat in apology. His thumb smoothed gently over the red mark that he had inadvertently put there.

“I should have expected that.” Draco said, while the corner of his mouth curved upwards in a half smile. Sneaking up on Harry Potter, what had he been thinking?

“What’s up? Are you … still thinking things over?” Harry asked softly as he moved his hand up from Draco's neck to cup the sharp angle of his jaw and caress his thumb over Draco's soft cheek. He didn't move away or reject his advances and Harry supposed that was a rather good sign for their potential budding relationship.

“Yes, still thinking, I’m getting there though.” 

“What are you doing all the way up here?” Harry asked, he knew it was unlikely that Draco was meeting with a Professor given the time of night, and the third floor was too far away from the dungeons for him to be on his Prefect rotations.

“I know what she’s been doing to students in detentions. I wanted to… make sure you were okay I guess.” He flushed (but if anyone had dared point it out to him he would have hexed them on the spot).

“You like me,” Harry grinned widely.

“Fuck off Potter.” Draco said, but he was distinctly lacking his usual biting tone, “Give me your hand.” Harry held his hand up to show him the bloody phrase and Draco scowled in response, “She’s such a Bitch. Does it hurt?” He took Harry’s hand in one of his own and inspected the damage with an attentive eye.

“Yeah, a bit. I can handle it though.” Draco rolled his eyes and pulled his wand out, pointing it at the back of Harry's hand so he could mutter a string of healing charms under his breath. The sting and soreness faded first and the skin slowly stitched itself together leaving no trace of the wound, it was way more effective than Murtlap essence had ever been. Draco regarded the clear skin carefully and cradled Harry’s hand against his mouth with affection in his eyes.

“You like me.” Harry said again, all trace of teasing had faded from his countenance leaving only unbridled affection for the blonde Slytherin before him. Draco sighed deeply at the change of tone and dropped the hand he had been pressing his lips against. The tender touch could have been likened to something akin to a kiss, but that was yet another subject that Draco would never speak of.

“I like you.” Draco agreed, “Obviously, I do.” Harry chuckled and tugged him half a step closer, “It was never a question of whether I liked you or not. It was everything else.” Draco’s hands landed on Harry’s waist.

“You can talk to me about it, Draco.” Draco couldn’t help the smile from spreading across his face this time.

“You called me Draco.” Harry finally pulled him fully against his chest until they were pressed together from thigh to shoulder, and he fit his cheek snugly against Draco’s.

“Draco. My Draco.” Harry whispered into his ear, “Please be mine. We’ll work everything out. Just please be mine.” Draco’s eyes fluttered closed and his mouth dropped open in a silent pant as his trousers tightened uncomfortably.

“I need time.” Draco gasped out, as his knees trembled at Harry’s earnestness,“Please, give me time, let’s not force this. Let me sort everything out first.” Harry nodded against his cheek, smiling to himself at Draco’s use of his first name as he continued to speak into his ear, “This has happened so fast, I need to get my head round it. I need to think of my Mother, and the danger I’ll be putting my family in. I need to sort out my finances, separate my accounts from my parents. I might even be struck out of the family, what do I do if my Father has my family name removed? I won’t be a Malfoy anymore, I’ll be Draco Nobody.” Draco was getting more and more worked up with each sentence he spoke. Harry pulled back slightly so he could cup Draco's face and force him to meet his eyes.

“Draco, breathe. Calm.” Harry peppered his face with gentle kisses as Draco caught his breath, breathing even and deeply to calm himself down. “I know how much your name means to you; I understand that. But you are so much more than your name. If you’re not a Malfoy then how about being a Black, it’s already in your blood. You’re as much a Black as you are a Malfoy.”

“I have no claim to the Black name, I can’t just declare myself a Black.” Draco scoffed.

“No, but Sirius Black can. And you’d make a pretty good heir to be honest, I’d be rubbish at it.” Draco looked at him with wide eyes.

“ _ You’re _ the Black Family heir? But Black is… God knows where Black is.”

“Pretty sure he’s home safe and sound, haven’t sent him a letter in a while.” Harry smirked slightly. “I will though, soon. Do you want me to ask him about it? I’ll need to tell him about this anyway, his house will be part of protecting you.” Harry knew he was pushing his luck with that last uttered sentence, he hadn’t been sure how far the Fidelius charm would stretch and he was surprised that he was able to say even that much.

“I should have known that you'd be in cahoots with an escaped convict, just add that to your Resume of Impossible Things that Harry Potter does." Draco shook his head and chuckled before quickly sobering, "You shouldn’t be telling me these things though, it’s dangerous. There's ways of getting information out of people, no matter how much you trust me.”

Harry pulled him into another tight hug.

“We should go.” Draco said a few minutes later. They had shifted to a slightly comfier position, with Harry leaned back against the wall and Draco with his neck bowed down slightly so he could rest his forehead on Harry's shoulder. They were close to the same height, barely a couple of inches between them so Draco’s neck was getting a bit stiff, but he enjoyed the closeness too much to move, “Curfew soon.”

“Thank you. for healing me.” Harry said and pressed a kiss to Draco’s temple, “Will you write to me?”

“About what? Isn’t Umbridge watching the mail?”

“I’m sure we can find a spell to link two pieces of parchment. I want you to talk to me about this stuff. I’m asking you for a lot, I know that. I know exactly what I’m asking you to give up and turn your back on. But I want to help you.”

“If you can find the spell then I’ll write to you.” Draco kissed him quickly before attempting to pull away, he was stopped by a firm hand on his waist.

Harry pulled him back for a proper kiss. Their mouths slotted together easily, and Harry licked his way into Draco’s mouth without needing an invitation. His intrusion was welcomed, enthusiastically, and Draco moaned softly against Harry’s lips. He allowed the kiss to end organically this time and instead of ripping himself away he let the kiss peter out, even following it up with a couple of soft pecks before once again stepping away. 

“Did I tell you last time how amazing you are at that?” Harry asked breathlessly.

“No. But you said I had a great fucking mouth, so I counted that as the same thing.” Draco laughed in response, “We’d better go.”

“See you tomorrow.” Draco smiled over his shoulder at Harry’s last response, and he peeked around the tapestry before disappearing from Harry's view. Harry scrubbed his hands through his hair and sighed deeply, he grabbed his bag from the ground and followed Draco out from the nook. He could just see Draco’s robes disappear around the corner, and once the Sytherin was out of view he made his own way quickly down the hall to head in the opposite direction, towards the tower.

He clambered through the portrait hole and into the common room, and headed straight for Hermione who was working on a long essay at a table in the far corner.

“Is there a spell that makes a two-way parchment?” He asked as he threw himself down into the chair opposite her. She looked up at him in shock at the random conversation starter, but was all too used to Harry popping up with random topics in the hope that she had read something helpful somewhere.

“Yes probably, shouldn’t be too hard to find.” She pulled a fresh piece of parchment towards her and started jotting down book titles, “I think these would be a good place to start. What’s it for?” She asked, already half knowing the answer.

“Draco.” Harry whispered, glancing around them furtively. 

“It’s Draco now?” Hermione asked with her eyebrows raised.

“I’ve had my tongue practically down his throat a couple of times now, seems only fair.” Harry grinned easily and shrugged.

“A couple of times?” Hermione asked, her eyebrows raised even further, a feat Harry would have deemed impossible if he hadn’t witnessed it himself.

“He caught me after detention.”

“Did he? Oh, your detention! I’m so sorry, I got caught up in this potions essay. Let me grab the Murtlap-”

“It’s not necessary, he healed me.” Harry held up the back of his hand as proof.

“That’s impressive,  _ really _ impressive. Healing spells are really hard to master, the one I’m researching is the most basic one I could find and even then I’m not sure about being able to pull it off. Do you think he’d talk to me about it?” She grabbed his hand, pulling him half across the table in the process, so she could examine the unblemished skin in fascination. 

“Not sure, he doesn’t know that you know yet.” Harry was silent for a few seconds before delving into a much more serious topic that had been playing on his mind since Draco had brought it up, “I’m asking a lot from him, he’s got a lot to think about and sort out. Do you think I’m asking too much?” Harry questioned.

“It’s hard to say.” She placed her quill down carefully as she considered the weight of the situation, “You are asking a lot. But I don’t think it’s an entirely bad thing, you’re not just expecting him to drop everything and fall into your arms, you’re trying to protect him as well.” She paused again to gather her thoughts, “He’s losing a lot, but he has just as much to gain by being with you.”

“He said he could lose his name.” Harry looked down at the table and studied the whorls underneath his fingertips. He couldn’t help the spread of shame as he really considered the implications of what he was asking of Draco.

“It’s possible, it depends how ingrained his Father is in You-Know-Whos regime. He might shun Malfoy publicly, but a public shun, and a legal disinheritance are two very different things.” Hermione said, in an attempt to settle his worries.

“I’ve offered him the Black name, I know it’s not really mine to offer but Sirius could name him the heir over me. He’d be much better at it; he’s been raised to know the ins and outs of all that stuff and he's actually a Black by blood.”

“Just the Black name?” Hermione was smirking at him now.

“What do you mean?” He looked up from where he had been staring at the table, baffled by her question.

“Not the Potter name?” She laughed as he caught on to her meaning.

“I’m not about to propose to someone I’ve snogged twice.” Harry scoffed. But only by pain of death would he admit that Draco Potter had a slight ring to it.

“No, but you would ask someone to uproot their entire life and leave everything they’ve ever known just to be with you. I don’t think proposing marriage is that much more of a stretch really.”

“Hermione…” Harry whined, and dropped his head onto the desk in defeat.

“Mate!” Ron yelled from across the common room as he bounded down the stairs from the boys dormitories, “You’ll never guess what I’ve just found out.” Ron pulled a chair up to the table to join them. “Sounds like some randy couple is using the broom shed as a hook up spot.”

“What makes you say that?” Harry said carefully.

“Angelina tried to get in a few days ago and it was charmed shut. Said she could hear some interesting noises from inside. She said she didn't dare try to get through the locking spell."

“Ha, idiots, should have used a silencing charm.” Hermione said with a shit eating grin directed towards Harry.

“Must be the younger years, maybe they don’t know any silencing spells yet?” 

“Or maybe it was an older year, who just forgot in the heat of the moment.” Hermione countered.

“Who cares, it’s hilarious. Don’t think I’ll leave my broom in there though. Who knows what kinky things they’re doing in there.” He threw his head back and laughed and Harry tried to prevent an embarrassed flush from creeping up his neck.

“How was detention anyway mate? Hand okay?”

“Yeah all healed.” Harry waved his hand in Ron’s direction before changing the subject, “Christmas soon guys, we all going home this year? Pretty sure I’ll be able to go to Padfoots.”

“We’ll all be at Padfoots too I think, more protection there than the Burrow.” Ron said.

“If you’re both not going to be here then I’ll go home too, maybe see if I can visit on Boxing Day after spending some time with my parents.”

“My first Christmas not at Hogwarts,” Harry grinned, “That’s going to be odd.” He steeled himself and took a deep breath before saying, “Especially since I think the person I like might be staying.” He glanced at Ron out of the corner of his eye. He figured laying the groundwork for Ron accepting Draco would go better the longer that Ron had to adjust.

“Cho?” He asked, and Harry looked at Ron in confusion.

“No!" Harry denied vehemently, "Does everyone think I’m interested in Cho? That was last year and she’s not exactly stable right now, that would be taking a massive advantage of someone’s emotions.”

“Kinda mate. If you’re not into her then you should probably say something, I think she’s been mooning after you all year.”

“Shit.”

“But if it’s not Cho, then who is it? Is she into you too?”

“Erm, it’s a guy.” Harry waited for the fallout, waited for Ron to blow up about it, to curse him out for being gay. The events of the previous year, and the speed at which Ron had turned on him for seemingly entering the tournament still played on his mind from time to time. He didn’t want to believe his best mate would turn his back on him again, but he honestly couldn’t be too sure of it. If anything was going to drive him away it would be finding out that his best friend was getting into bed with a Malfoy, both figuratively and literally. Their families just had too much History and not to mention Draco’s behaviour, he had hardly endeared himself to the rest of the school over the past four years.

“Oh right. Sorry mate, I didn’t know. Is he into you?”

“What? Is that it? You’re okay with it?” Harry asked disbelievingly.

“Should I not be?” Ron asked slowly, looking between Harry and Hermione in bewilderment.

“People usually aren’t.” Hermione replied, “In the Muggle world.”

“Really? They’re so backwards aren’t they?” Harry didn’t point out that it had been over a hundred years since Muggles had done anything using candlelight and quills, he felt like it maybe wasn’t the right time for that particular battle, “Charlie's had boyfriends for years. Anyway, you didn’t answer my question, is he into you?”

“Yeah, he is.” Harry grinned and rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment, certain that a flush was crawling across his face.

“Nice one, who is it?”

“We’re not really making anything public yet, it’s new. I’d rather keep it to myself if that’s okay. He’s pretty great but he’s in a weird situation at home.”

Ron looked at him calculatingly, “So he’s a You-Know-Who supporter then, his family is I mean?”

“I- yeah.” Now and then even Harry would forget that Ron really wasn’t the idiot others thought he was. He was a tactical thinker after all, and he knew Harry enough to figure out what he wasn’t saying.

“Can’t judge everyone by their family, I guess. As long as you're happy mate.”

“I am, thanks.”

“Oh Ron.” Hermione sighed, and Harry could have sworn that there was a tear in her eye as she rounded the table to hug Ron fiercely.


	4. Chapter 4

It only took Harry and Hermione a week to research and charm two sheets of blank parchment. The two-way charm required a bit of nifty wand work but the incantation was simple enough, so it only took them a few tries to get it right. The Notice-Me-Not charm was easy enough as well, they needed the parchment to be as inconspicuous as possible so that they didn’t run the risk of someone else writing on it thinking it was just an ordinary piece of parchment. The difficult bit was applying an anti-cheating spell so that only they could see what was being written, and creating a spell that erased the writing so that they could use the same piece of parchment over and over without having to re-charm anything else. It hadn’t been entirely impossible though, and by the end of the week they had two pieces of charmed parchment ready to be used.

The difficulty was getting it to Draco. He couldn’t really send it with an owl because Umbridge was monitoring the post. He might have been able to get away with it since it looked like a blank piece of parchment, but he couldn’t be certain that it wouldn’t just be binned as soon as someone got a hold of it. His second thought was asking Dobby to deliver it. But since his previous family had been the Malfoys, Harry really didn’t want to answer the questions that the House-Elf would surely ask. And he couldn’t even be certain that the message would be delivered. It wouldn’t be the first time that Dobby had tried to take Harry's well being into his own hands without any thought to what Harry would want. He finally decided to just slip the parchment to Draco in the middle of one of their classes. They obviously weren’t sat together in any of them, but they were close enough in Potions and Transfiguration to be able to possibly pull it off.

The perfect opportunity came when Harry was returning the last of the library books that they’d used for their little project. It was such a simple solution to the problem that Harry could have hit himself for not thinking of it sooner. Draco was sitting in front of a window at the far end of the library and he was surrounded in silence. The table he had chosen was nestled between the section for Alchemy and Arithmancy, both of which were advanced subjects so only the upper years would bother to venture down his aisle. He was bent low over a pile of books, and Harry watched from the end of the aisle as his impossibly blonde hair fell out of its spelled hold and flopped forward over his forehead. Draco huffed and pushed his hair back, obviously annoyed that it wasn’t doing what it was supposed to, and Harry had to stifle a chuckle at the way Draco glared at the lock of hair as though it had personally offended him. 

Harry watched for a few minutes to make sure that no one in the library had any intention of going down Draco’s aisle (and not at all because Draco was such a captivating person to watch). Every now and then Draco would look up from the book in front of him to make a few notes before returning to the pages a few seconds later. He continued to push his fringe back in frustration, but the topic he was studying must have been fascinating enough to keep him engrossed, because he didn’t once bother going for his wand to fix his errant hair.

When Harry was sure that no one would be coming down that end of the library (and when he thought that watching Draco for a moment longer would shift him firmly into the territory of ‘Creep’), he walked over and dropped the blank parchment on top of the open book right under Draco’s nose.

“You asked and I delivered,” Harry was bent low over his shoulder so that his mouth was directly next to Draco’s ear. 

The shiver across their skin was from more than just proximity to each other. Harry had barely noticed it the past couple of times they had made physical contact. He had passed it off as goosebumps last time and a subtle tingle under his skin the time before that. But now there was no mistaking that spark of magic against his cheek as he brushed by Draco’s ear, or the happy thrill of delight in his core that made the fire of his magic curl in pleasure. It felt like his magic was relishing in Draco’s close proximity. Harry pushed his magic down and focused his attention back on the blonde in front of him. He figured he could ask Hermione about it later.

“It was your idea.” Draco picked the parchment up and inspected it. 

“Semantics.”

“Big word for you Harry.” Harry wasn’t offended, Draco’s natural response was sarcasm after all.

“I think you mean, thank you Darling.” Harry kissed the top of his head; he was about to turn away when he heard a murmur from Draco.

“Thank you, Darling.” Harry threw a grin over his shoulder before disappearing past the shelves Draco had hidden himself behind and rejoined the main part of the library where there were more students and therefore more ambient noise. He settled at a small empty table and pulled out his own parchment.

_ Hey. _ He wrote, for lack of a more interesting greeting.

_ Hello. _ Came the response from Draco, and Harry was almost giddy with the idea that they could communicate without being discovered or overheard.

_ I miss you. How are you? _

_ Fine. _ Harry frowned when he read the response, the whole idea behind this was so that Draco could be honest with him. But before he could comment on it Draco’s looping and neat handwriting formed a second response

_ Not fine. _

_ Anything I can help you with? _

_ I don’t think so. I’m worried about my Mother, if she gets hurt because of my decision... _

Draco didn’t add to that, he didn’t need to, Harry was sure he could relate to the all encompassing feeling of guilt and shame. It was the same feeling he had when he returned from the Graveyard last year with Cedric’s lifeless body. The same feeling he had whenever he heard of a new death or a new disappearance that could be attributed to Voldemort or his followers.

_ She’s your Mum, I bet she’d give everything for you to be safe. I might be able to help her too, if she was willing. _

_ That won’t make me feel any less guilty if she ends up getting murdered because of me. I don’t think she’ll ever leave my Father, he has his faults but she is devoted to him. _

Harry had nothing to say in response. He really didn’t think there was anything he could say. All he could do was help those who asked for it, he couldn’t exactly force anyone to see his side of things.

_ Are you staying at Hogwarts over Christmas? _ Draco wrote a few minutes later.

_ No, for once. Staying with my Godfather. You?  _

_ I might go home, it will be much easier to talk to my Mother and visit Gringotts when I’m not in school. We have a certain guest though and I’d much rather avoid a run in with him if at all possible. _

That meant that Voldemort was staying at Malfoy Manor, as the Order had suspected. Harry learned further over the parchment and began writing furiously.

_ Avoid him as much as you can, and if you do have to see him just agree with whatever he says and exit the conversation as quickly as possible. He’ll Crucio you for nothing more than disagreeing with him. _

_ I forget how many times you’ve seen him and just how much you know.  _

_ Four times. _

_ Four!! _

_ As a baby, end of first year when he was possessing Quirrell, end of second year when he was possessing Ginny, and last year in the graveyard. _

_ He was possessing Quirrell? _

_ I thought the whole school knew? _

_ No! We were told Quirrell had gone mad and tried to attack you after you went down the out of bounds hallway. _

_ That’s almost completely incorrect. We did go down the corridor but only to get the Philosopher's Stone. We had to get through the Professors safeguards that were protecting the Stone to get it before Quirrell and You-Know-Who. Only, we thought it was Snape, not Quirrell. _

_ Three First years managed to make it through several enchantments that the Professors put in place? They mustn’t have been very good enchantments. You were only 11. _

Harry almost felt offended, but Draco was absolutely right. There was no way that three 11 year olds should have managed to get anywhere near the stone.

_ I think Dumbledore probably allowed it to happen. _

_ That’s so fucked up. _ Draco wrote, and Harry was absolutely inclined to agree with him _. I’ve got to go, I need to finish this essay, the last one barely scraped an O. _

_ Talk to you soon. _ Harry wrote.

He folded up the parchment and left the Library, he felt like he was floating. He was almost certain that Draco had already chosen him, he was talking about settling his accounts and talking to his Mother. Which meant that Harry needed to talk to Sirius and Dumbledore now more than ever. He checked his watch and noticed that the bell was about to ring for the next period, but he had a free hour and it would be the perfect time to visit with Dumbledore. 

The bell rang and the corridors became blocked up with students trying to walk in all directions. He managed to push through everyone without too much bother, most students were heading away from the seventh floor corridor, where the entrance to Gryffindor tower was located, and further towards the classrooms and main areas of the school. He climbed through the portrait hole and managed to avoid Colin Creevey in the common room who was looking up at him with wide eyes and clutching his camera to his chest. He took the steps up to the dormitory two at a time and pulled open the door, barely managing to dodge Neville who was coming towards him with a large potted plant in his arms. He pulled his trunk open once Neville was safely out of the dorm and heading down the stairs, and shifted the first layer of junk to one side so that he could pull out the Marauders Map from where he had last stuffed it.

He flipped straight to the Headmasters office and saw that Dumbledore was alone and was pacing backwards and forwards. Wasting no time Harry stuffed the map in his pocket and practically ran to the gargoyle statue that guarded the entrance to the Headmasters office, barely missing the last few students who were hurrying to their classes. Harry said the password, (Cockroach Clusters, gross) and stepped onto the moving steps. He knocked on the door at the top and waited impatiently for Dumbledore to respond.

"Come in."

Harry pushed the door open and stepped through.

"Harry? What a surprise. Is there an emergency somewhere?" Dumbledore looked at him over the rim of his half moon glasses and Harry scuffed his feet slightly against the carpet.

"No sir. It's not an emergency per se, but there is something important I need to talk to you about."

"Have a seat," Harry sat down in one of the spindly legged chairs in front of his desk, "Tea?"

"No thank you sir."

Dumbledore sat down opposite him and waited for Harry to speak. Harry tried to catch his eye, but Dumbledore was resolutely staring at his left ear.

"I have a … friend sir. He’s in a pretty bad situation with Voldemort." Dumbledore leaned forward and steepled his fingers under his chin, "His parents are death eaters and he's worried that he'll be forced into it soon. I've said that I can get him protection."

"May I ask who the student is Harry?" But Dumbledore was looking at him knowingly and Harry suspected that saying Draco’s name out loud would only confirm the Headmaster's suspicions.

"I don't want to say just yet, he's still thinking things over. He knows what he has to give up and it's weighing on him."

"How close to Voldemort is the student."

"His parents are inner circle." Harry knew he might as well just be standing on the Astronomy tower shouting, ' **Malfoy, Malfoy,** **it's Malfoy.** ' And he knew that Dumbledore had worked it out already but without Harry saying it outright at least they both still had plausible deniability.

"What would he need to do Professor?"

"I would need to question him under the effects of Veriterserum. And he would need to make an Unbreakable oath not to share what he hears or sees while with members of the Order, and it would be of great use to us if he has any information he can share."

"What about his Mother? He's certain she won't leave his Father's side but if she does can I offer her the same deal?"

"Your friend is underage so we would not expect more than an oath. We would expect his Mother to become part of the Order and to share with us everything she knows. The oath that the Order members go through are more rigorous than what we would expect from a teenager."

"Thank you, Sir." Harry was about to stand up before Dumbledore beckoned him to stay seated.

"You do know what you are doing, don't you Harry?"

"Yes Sir."

"And if there's anything you need to say to me, you are welcome to share it."

"Yes, I know Sir." He considered telling him about his dreams, the weird corridors leading to locked doors, but decided against it. He didn't want to cause any worry when it could be nothing but a vivid nightmare from his own imagination. "There's nothing else."

"Very well Harry. Once this young gentleman has reached a decision do bring him up to my office."

Harry nodded and left the office quickly. He wanted to write to Draco before their next class so he wouldn't forget what Dumbledore had said. He stopped in the middle of the corridor and propped the parchment up against the wall so that he could write a note to Draco.

_ Draco? _ Harry wrote

_ I'm here. _ came the almost too quick reply

_ Where are you?  _ He was hesitant to disturb him if he was in the middle of something important. 

_ Arithmancy.  _ That would explain the quick reply, he was probably desperate for any distraction possible, it was a dreadfully boring topic and Harry had no idea why someone would want to subject themselves to that day in and day out.

_ I spoke to Dumbledore. _ Harry started with.    
_ I didn't mention you by name but he might have figured it out. _

_ Right. _ Draco's reply was short, concise, and unhappy. 

_ He can help. I know how you feel about him and I'm sorry but he's the secret keeper. _

_ Stop telling me these things!  _ Draco wrote and then followed it by saying.   
_ What would I need to do? _

_ Veriterserum and an oath _

_ That's it? _

_ He said you're underage so they wouldn't push for more than that. _

_ My Mother? _

_ They would expect her to become part of the Order and he would expect information in return. _

_ I don't know if she would agree to that _

_ If she had enough information, she could maybe bargain her way out of being in the order _

_ Maybe. _ Draco wrote.   
_ I need to go, Pansy looks suspicious _ .


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Spoiler Alert*  
> Scenes of a sexual nature ahead.

It was coming up to three weeks after the broom shed incident. Two and a half weeks since the alcove on the Defence corridor and Harry was itching to touch Draco again. They talked daily through the Parchment. Harry had started asking random questions whenever the mood struck him. They'd exhausted the usual questions like favourite colour (Royal blue for Draco, Green for Harry) and favourite food (treacle tart, and roasted pheasant). Instead Harry would ask anything and everything that drifted through his head, in a lesson on magical theory and whether children from Wizarding families had a magical advantage Harry had asked -

_ What was your first bit of magic? _

_ I accidentally turned a Nanny orange because she wouldn't let me have any more ice cream. _

Harry almost snorted to himself, he looked over at Draco who was sitting at the other side of the classroom. He looked studious, and to anyone else it looked like he was doing nothing more than taking notes but he had been complaining to Harry about the Professor talking drivel from the moment they'd sat down in the classroom _. _

_ What did you do?  _ Draco asked.

_ Hard to say, I didn't know it was magic so a few things got explained away. I once shrunk an ugly jumper that my Aunt tried to force on me. Another time I made my hair grow back overnight when she shaved it off. The worst one was when I went to jump behind some bins at school and I ended up on the roof. _

_ Bet your horrible Muggles didn't like that. _

_ They locked me in the cupboard for a couple of weeks for the last one. _

_ Fucking dicks. _

Harry was inclined to agree.

On another occasion Harry had been sat in the library, with Draco sat only a few aisles down, and he had commented -

_ Whoever is coughing so loudly should go die already. _

_ Bold words coming from the Saviour. _

_ I'm serious, I’m trying to concentrate on this Potions essay and I've got some Knob hacking a cough behind me every two minutes. _

_ Which part of the essay are you on? _

_ Trying to work out which part of the brew needs to go wrong to turn it pink. _

_ Adding beetles eyes a step too early. Over weighing the belladonna. And not grinding the porcupine quill down to a fine grain. _

_ You're a fucking genius. _

_ I know. _

But even these conversations got old quickly. It was coming up to the end of term. Christmas was fast approaching, and with the DA and the enormous amount of assignments they'd been given Harry could barely scrape two minutes for himself, never mind arrange a time to meet Draco. They'd managed quick kisses in hidden alcoves between classes, and the odd snogging session at lunch and dinner time. One time Harry even had the pleasure of pinning Draco against a stack of books in the library when most other students were blowing off steam watching the Ravenclaw-Hufflepuff Quidditch match. He'd managed to suck a love bite into Draco's neck before they had to spring apart at the sound of approaching footsteps.

_ I miss you _ .

Harry wrote one freezing cold Friday evening. He had just finished his charms essay and had written the first few sentences of the History of Magic assignment before giving up entirely. He was sat crossed legged in front of the fire in the Gryffindor common room with books spread about him. Hermione was scribbling furiously to one side of him and Ron was dozing on the other side, Ron's head was tilted back uncomfortably against the overstuffed chair behind him and Harry reckoned his neck would kill when he eventually woke up.

_ What are you doing now? _ Draco replied quickly. He was well aware that Harry's evening was completely taken up by the seamlessly never ending assignments, just as his was.

_ History of Magic. Dull. _

_ I could help you with that. I finished mine yesterday. If you want? _

Harry grinned and began packing up all the books around him before he had even bothered to write a reply.

_ Meet me on the seventh floor by the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy. _

_ 20 minutes.  _ Draco replied.

"Wait, where are you going? Binns' essay is due Monday." Hermione asked, her usual curly hair was frizzy and mussed from the amount of times she had run her hands through it during their study session.

"I'm gonna go meet…" Harry gestured to the spelled parchment in lieu of finishing his sentence, "He's gonna help me with it."

"Have a good evening." Hermione smirked, “But finish that essay too!”

Harry rushed down to the Room of Requirement and requested the comfortable sitting room that he envisioned. Once he opened the door, he was quite happy with the result. A large stone fireplace was the focal point of the room, it was lit with a low crackling fire and the heat permeated the room, staving away the usual chill that filled the corridors of the castle. It was surrounded by odd sofas and armchairs in various colours and patterns. Bookcases lined most of the walls, and rugs were layered on top of one another, lining the floor almost like it was a patchwork carpet. It was comfortable and homey. Exactly what Harry wanted.

He was pulling relevant History of Magic books from the shelves when there was a quick rap of knuckles against the door. Harry tugged Draco through quickly with his hand clamped on Draco's wrist, he practically slammed it closed behind him and locked it with a quick but strong charm.

“Hey.” Harry said, once the room was secure.

“I’m sure this wasn’t here the last time I came down this hallway.” Draco said, his eyebrows raised as he looked up at the high vaulted ceiling curiously.

“The castle has a lot of secrets.” Harry shrugged. 

“And how many of them do you know?”

“A few.” Harry smirked; Draco hummed under his breath before turning back to face Harry.

“Hi, to you too.” He smiled and leaned in for a chaste kiss, his mouth lingering in place under Harry's for only a second too long to be casual, “And I missed you also.” He was referring to the I miss you that Harry had written to distract himself from the frightfully boring essay he had yet to complete. He pulled away from Harry and attempted to head deeper into the room but Harry’s hand caught his, and stopped him in his tracks.

“Wait,” And there it was again. Magical energy thrumming through his veins. Tingling through his nerves at every point of contact and sparking across the surface of his skin. It was delicious. Intoxicating and the heat was quickly building in the air between them. Draco swallowed thickly and without uttering a word he threaded his fingers through Harry’s. It had been cold as he made his way up from the Dungeons, and the chill had seemed to almost seep into his bones, but just being in close proximity to Harry made his skin flush and his heart beat twice as fast. The combination of the heat flowing through him and the magical energy pickling against his skin was almost too much. It felt like his body was on fire while his heart ached with want. 

Harry couldn’t describe the feeling that coursed through him either. It was the reason he had tugged Draco by the front of his shirt into the broom shed. It was why he’d locked the door behind them and pulled the Slytherin to his chest in the first place. His magic swirled inside of him as desire curled up in his lower stomach and headed insistently down to his groin. His head was clouded with the heady feeling of lust, it was like he craved Draco, needed him.

Harry leaned down once again. The movement was fast becoming a familiar one, but before he could meet Draco’s lips with his own, the Slytherin surged up and kissed him squarely on the mouth. Draco took control of the encounter rather quickly, he cupped Harry’s jaw with both of his hands and encouraged Harry to tilt his head to the side. His fingers dragged over the hint of stubble scattered across Harry’s jaw, as his tongue pressed against Harry’s insistently. Harry’s thoughts were panting what his mouth couldn’t, a litany of  _ yes _ and  _ more  _ flew in circles around his mind _.  _ He found himself carding a hand through Draco’s soft blond hair, messing it up from its usual perfect appearance, he cupped the back of his neck with strong fingers and squeezed ever so lightly at the base of his skull. The blonde whimpered deliciously and Harry groaned deeply in reply. Draco didn’t hesitate to push the robe off Harry’s shoulders and dig his hands into the soft material of the Gryffindor jumper in response.

Harry was drowning in everything that was Draco. The flick of his tongue against Harry’s, the way sandalwood permeated into his senses (the scent of Draco’s hair potion), the flare of his magic as it sparked against Harry's skin. In that moment Draco was everything. And then Draco’s hands fell from his shoulders to fist into the front of Harry’s jumper. He began to walk him backwards, pushing Harry towards the nearest sofa, with their mouths still firmly attached.

Harry fell backwards onto the sofa and Draco broke their kiss. He was still standing and looking down at Harry. The small break gave Harry a chance to take note of the way Draco’s pale skin had flushed a familiar pink, and the way his lips had deepened to an enticing shade of red. Harry wanted to  _ touch, _ he wanted so desperately to just  _ touch _ . Like Draco was a priceless shiny jewel being held just out of reach. 

“I’m yours.” Harry said plainly. No ounce of hesitation on his part, no pause was needed for him to decide what he wanted. Draco put one knee alongside Harry’s thigh on the sofa and slid smoothly down into his lap. Harry didn’t move to kiss him again. Instead he opted to touch, like he had so desperately wanted to do, he slid his hands up from Draco’s knees, delighted in the feel of strong Quidditch toned thighs and narrow hips that tapering up to a slender waist. He didn’t allow his hands to wander to the front of Draco’s trousers, instead he slid his hands around to knead at that truly fantastic arse. Draco watched him from his raised position, not a word left his lips as he allowed Harry to touch him. 

Eventually Harry’s hands stilled and rested against the sides of Draco’s thighs. Harry’s green eyes met Draco’s grey and they sat there, just looking at each other. Still and silent. 

“Is this about sex?” Draco finally asked in a low voice. He needed to know that he wasn’t putting everything on the line just for a quick one, “Do you only want me for a shag?”

“No.” Harry’s fingers tightened, he sounded almost offended that Draco would even suggest it. 

“Why do you want me?”

“I think you’re beautiful.” Harry responded, his Gryffindor-ness shining through, “And I think I’m falling in love with you.”

“You can’t just say things like that.” Draco whined, but he didn’t imagine the tightening of his groin or the ache fading from his heart.

“Why not?” Harry shrugged.

“People don’t just say things like that.”

“Draco,”

“Hm?”

“Shut up and kiss me.” Draco laughed before gladly accepting the waiting kiss. First it was chaste, just lips moving slowly against lips. And then it was affectionate, Draco cupped Harry’s face gently in both of his hands. Which moved them swiftly into the passionate territory, Harry angled his head to the side so he could lick into Draco’s mouth. And then it was filthy, Draco moaned, low and insistent against Harry's mouth. His hips canted down almost on their own accord, in an effort to press his hardness against Harry’s below him. 

“I thought-” Harry gasped out between their mouths, “That you-” He groaned, “Weren’t-” Draco finally abandoned his mouth, once he realised that Harry was going to insist on talking, to work on Harry’s neck, “A degenerate.”

“Hmm?” Was Draco’s wordless reply, he was completely unwilling to part with the spot on Harry’s neck that made Harry's hips jolt up with every nibble and scrape of Draco's teeth.

“Cumming in your underwear like a degenerate, you said.” Harry gasped out, finally able to finish his sentence through Draco’s distracting mouth.

“Do you want me to stop?” Draco asked, his mouth was still completely pressed against the tanned skin on Harry's neck. His breath blew hot and moist against Harry's throat.

“Fuck no.” 

“Shut up then.” And he moved his mouth back up to Harry’s, in an effort to stop any other ridiculous notions from escaping the Gryffindor's lips.

Draco’s body was so fluid, he lacked the stuttering unsure actions of most boys their age, Harry noted. He should feel jealous of that, he should be thinking about where Draco had gained so much experience. About who had taught him how to roll his hips like that, and who had shown him the effect of that particular tongue flick. But all he could think was how fucking grateful he was that Draco had learnt it from somewhere. Because Harry was fast turning to goo underneath the hard lines of Draco's body, the soft touch of his hands and the hot press of his goddamn beautiful mouth. His hips rolled forwards in perfect circles, following a rhythm that only they were aware of, and his back arched with every downward thrust.

Harry dug his way under Draco’s shirt, his hands mapped out soft smooth skin like a blind man reading braille. Their breaths mingled together as Draco’s mouth hovered barely centimetres away from Harry’s, breathless and panting. Harry pushed Draco’s jumper and shirt up until it was gathered at his armpits. Draco leaned back and pulled them over his head in one singular smooth move. And Harry’s mouth went suddenly dry. This was perfection.  _ He _ was perfection. All pale skin over toned muscle. Fucking beautiful. 

Harry suddenly sat up straight, he held Draco’s waist between both of his hands and without any preamble he leaned forward and swiped his tongue over the dusty pink of Draco’s nipple. Draco’s hips stuttered to a standstill, and his hands flew to the back of Harry’s neck in surprise, as his head tipped back to allow a long high-pitched moan to escape his throat.

“Do that again.” Draco whimpered and Harry's response was to move to Draco's other nipple and take the bud between his teeth, “Fuck, fuck, fuck.” Draco panted above him. Harry finally moved the palm of his hand to the front of Draco’s trousers and he pressed gently up against the bulge of his cock.

“Fu-uck!” He yelled again. His hips started moving again, almost of their own accord, pressing up against Harry’s hand with each forward movement. The flush from his face had spread down his chest, and Harry admired it as he moved between Draco’s nipples, nibbling the swollen bud of each one before soothing it with the rough pad of his tongue. 

“I’m going to make you cum.” Harry said. So plainly. So directly. So Gryffindor. His mouth was still pressed against Draco’s chest. He then looked up at Draco and grinned, “Like a degenerate.”

Draco opened his mouth to reply but that was when Harry’s fingers cupped his cock through the layers of his trousers and underwear and  _ squeezed _ . Draco’s hips stuttered to a halt again. It was the least coordinated he’d been throughout this whole encounter and Harry could tell how close he was. His movements began with a renewed vigour. He was pressing upwards against Harry’s hand and then downwards against his cock. The smooth circular movements turned wild and desperate as Draco chased his own orgasm. Harry was kissing him everywhere he could reach. The curve of his chin, the jut of his collarbone, the hollow of his clavicle. And then Draco whimpered, his arms clamped around Harry’s neck desperately, clutching Harry’s head tightly against his neck.

“Cum, my Darling.” Harry said against his skin.

So he did.

With a mix between a whimper and a groan Draco’s hips jerked twice more before finally finishing. Into his underwear. Exactly what he said he would never do.

“Fuck.” Draco fell boneless against Harry's chest. His forehead pressed against the cushioned back of the sofa, his cheek pressed against Harry’s ear, and Harry was peppering tiny kisses into his bare shoulder.

“Perfect. Just perfect.” Harry was whispering over and over again into his skin.

“You didn’t… Do you need...?” Draco trailed off hazily, knowing that he didn't need to say much more for Harry to catch his drift. He was willing to repay the favour graciously, but so unwilling to actually move from his current position.

“I did.” Harry blushed, “You, erm, looked pretty fucking sexy.” 

“That’s the hottest thing I’ve ever heard.” Draco groaned out into the sofa cushion where his face was still buried. Only slightly gutted that he had been too wrapped up in his own orgasm to witness Harry's.

It took a few minutes for Draco to find it within himself to move again. He sat up and slid slowly off Harry’s lap. Wincing first at the dull ache in his thighs for being in that position for so long and then again at the feeling of cold semen that was plastering his underwear to his groin.

“That’s disgusting.” He complained, Harry laughed at the face he was making.

“My wand’s in my robe over there, cleaning charm?” Harry asked. Draco pointed his wand first at himself and then at Harry and uttered a basic cleaning charm. Not perfect, he could still feel the sticky residue on his skin, but it would be enough for them to ignore until they could get to a shower.

“Thanks.” Harry stood up then and stretched his back and his legs, “Shit, sorry about those. I guess you can heal them though.” Harry’s thumb stroked over the various love marks splattered across Draco’s chest and neck.

“I could yes.” Draco pulled his shirt over them instead, “Mirror?”

“If you think of one it’ll appear.” Draco’s brow furrowed but with one thought a mirror appeared against the wall in front of him. He approached it and looked at the state of his neck in consideration.

“It’s a shame really.” Draco remarked.

“What is?” He asked, as he approached Draco from behind.

“I quite like the look of them.” He raised his wand and slowly healed the love bites one by one. Harry grinned and pressed a kiss to the now clear skin but didn’t mention that he apparently wasn’t going to heal the ones all over his chest, “Do you want me to sort out yours?” Harry looked at his own neck in the mirror and poked at the perfect mouth shaped bruise.

“I suppose you should.” Draco healed it with a few spoken words and a poke with his wand. He too kissed over the same spot.

“So that was pretty great, right?” Harry asked with a half-smile, Draco blushed instantly.

“You’re such a fucking Gryffindor. Come on, I thought you had an essay to finish.”

Harry followed him over to a sofa, a different one thankfully, and pulled his essay out of his bag. Draco pulled a book on the goblin wars towards him and began finding references that he could use. Harry just smiled over at him and began jotting helpful notes from the passages that Draco was reading out.

He could really get used to this.


	6. Chapter 6

_ Come to the 7 _ _ th _ _ floor. 8pm Thursday night.  _ Harry wrote to Draco the week before the Winter Break was due to start,  _ Use my cloak there’ll be a lot of students about. _

Harry had given the cloak to Draco the week before when a particularly steamy session between them had ended way passed the curfew. Harry had the map so it was fairly easy for him to avoid people in the halls without the use of his cloak. And not even Draco’s Prefect badge could prevent him from getting a detention if he was found wandering about past one o’clock in the morning.

Harry was finishing up the last DA session before the end of term. He was grinning at all the Patronus’ that were floating around him. He was sure he’d never felt this proud about anything in his entire life, barring winning his very first game of Quidditch of course. He’d done this, he’d taught them this. It was a feeling that swelled inside him and made him feel almost lightheaded, he wondered if all teachers gained this moment of complete satisfaction when their class mastered something particularly difficult.

“That’s excellent guys!” He shouted over the hubbub of activity, “You’ve all done so great, this is a really hard one to master, and even if you can’t produce a fully corporeal one, you’ll still have some protection against Dementors and that’s the most important thing. That’s it for this week, and I’ll see you all after the Holidays. Have a great Christmas!”

The students ended their charms somewhat reluctantly, and began leaving in groups of two and three as usual, hugging each other and wishing each other a Happy Christmas as they left. Their moods were high, and they laughed and chatted happily to each other, and Harry was glad he had decided to teach them the Patronus Charm before the holidays, he had been right about it giving everyone renewed energy and determination. 

Harry waved goodbye to Luna and Ginny and took a quick look around the room to see who was left. Ron and Hermione of course, a few of Ravenclaws who were arguing over the significance of their Patronus animals, Fred and George who were trying to sell Skiving Snackboxes to the remaining Hufflepuffs behind Hermione’s back, and Cho. 

She had separated herself from the rest of the remaining students and was picking up the pillows that the students had been using to sit on. Once the floor was clear, she wandered over to the bookcases and began to read the titles, every now and then, feigning interest, she would pull out a book and flip through it distractedly before placing it back on the shelf without actually reading or paying any attention to the contents. Harry hoped that she would leave with Marietta, but when the other Ravenclaw approached, Cho had sent her ahead, waving her away with a motion of her hand and a few short words. Harry looked at Ron and Hermione desperately, and silently begged them to stay. They were the last two left in the Room of Requirement now, barring himself and the Cho, so they were his only hope at not being left alone with a crying female Ravenclaw. He really couldn't deal with someone crying on him, he wasn't very good at figuring out what to say in that kind of situation and he thought himself to be rather desensitised to such things these days. Ron and Hermione exchanged a look, first with him then with each other, and shook their heads, motioning him on.

“Tell her.” Hermione hissed, as they passed him to leave the room. And then Harry was alone with her. And he was glued to the spot, not sure whether to move closer or move away.

x

Draco watched from the corridor as Weasley and Granger left the room. He had been passed by various groups from the three other houses and he scoffed to himself. They really weren’t as subtle as they thought. They should be glad that he had declined to join the Inquisitorial Squad, he would have figured them out ages ago. How difficult was it to spot a whole load of students suddenly appearing from the exact same direction? Especially, when they were all from different houses? He had opted out of the Squad with the fake excuse of needing to focus more on his studies which Umbridge had praised him for (as though he needed to, he was second in most of his classes, his grades only falling slightly behind Grangers in everything but Potions). 

He slipped into the room before the door could close behind Weasley and he looked around. This was where they had been practising then, it certainly explained how Harry had known about the Room and why he had made it their unofficial meeting point for snogging and study sessions. He gave the room a cursory glance, there was a full wall of bookcases, and a huge pile of pillows in one corner. Tacked to the wall next to the door was a list of names under the heading Dumbledore’s Army. Draco scoffed again, first of all it should surely be Potters Army (although he was sure that Harry would have rejected that idea immediately), and secondly, all those names really shouldn’t be up on the wall for all to see. Draco would tell Harry about that as soon as the Ravenclaw chit had left the room. The Ravenclaw chit who was moving in on  _ his _ Harry.

He couldn’t really hear what they were saying, but he was sure she was talking about Diggory because she was crying again. She was  _ always _ crying. To the point where Draco wondered whether she thought that crying was a turn on for guys. She was starting to lean closer to Harry and Draco had to physically stop himself from raising his wand and cursing her.

She was closing in on Harry. While he was just looking at her like an owl under Lumos, his green eyes impossibly large, and dare Draco say, scared? Scared of a crying girl when he’d already faced You-Know-Who four times. It was laughable. But the chuckle that threatened to escape him disappeared seconds later when the Ravenclaw chit tried to lean into Harry. He was obviously uncomfortable with the situation, anyone would have been able to tell that much, but she was still persisting forward. Draco’s fingers twitched on his wand and he had to restrain himself from shooting a stunner in her direction. Harry ducked away at the last second and Draco breathed out in relief, his fingers loosening considerably on his wand.

“Sorry Cho-” She looked crestfallen and she turned her face away from Harry so that he wouldn’t see how humiliated she felt. But she didn’t realise that she was putting herself directly into Draco's line of sight.

“No, it’s my fault,” She cried even harder and covered her face with her hands. Draco just sneered at her blotchy face and red rimmed eyes, “I know I shouldn’t be crying this much, I do like you though Harry. I really do.” 

“Cho, it’s not about you. You’re lovely-” Draco stopped a laugh from escaping his mouth, she wasn’t, not covered in snot anyway, “It’s just that I’m with someone.” Draco preened at the acknowledgement of their something-relationship.

“But I-I thought that you liked me?” She looked down at the floor, mortified. So she should be, Draco thought, going around and throwing herself at someone who was obviously not interested.

“I did, last year, and then I figured out that girls weren’t really my thing.” Harry shrugged with one shoulder.

“So the person you’re with is …”

“A guy. Yeah.” Harry said, “Listen, I’m sorry if I led you on at all, I didn’t mean to. I was just trying to be nice. But if you ever want to talk about Cedric, you can talk to me about him anytime.” He put a consoling hand on her shoulder and Draco rolled his eyes. If it were up to him, he would have told Harry to stop being so soft and to tell the girl to move on and get over it already.

Draco had to jump out of the way when she left the room in a hurry, using the arm of her robe to wipe at her tears and sniffling nose. Draco’s lip curled in disgust, someone needed to teach her how to use a handkerchief.

“Who’s there?” Harry called out, he had heard Draco’s shuffle when Cho had rushed passed. He was alert, wand in hand, and feet shifting into a duelling position. Fuck he was sexy like this, Draco thought. He had half a mind to stay concealed just to see what Harry would do, how he would look when he went on high alert. But he decided the risk of getting cursed was too high, so he spoke up.

“Who do you think?” Draco asked sarcastically as he pulled the cloak off.

“Hey there.” Harry’s face softened and he quickly tucked his wand away, “You didn’t just see-?”

“See you getting practically molested by a slobbering Ravenclaw? Yes, I saw.”

“ _ She _ tried to kiss  _ me _ , I didn’t-” Harry tried to defend himself.

“Yes, I know,” Draco waved off his grovelling and leaned close for a quick kiss deciding to forget the whole thing altogether, “You need to take _ that _ off the wall.” He pointed to the list with a single finger, “Anyone can read it. And Dumbledore’s Army? Let me guess, you refused Potter’s Army?” He scoffed.

“Maybe.” Harry crossed his arms over his chest in defiance.

“What did you want me for anyway?” Draco asked loftily, as he headed towards a bookcase and began to read the titles, almost in a parody of what Cho had been doing earlier. Harry followed behind him.

“I wanted to give you your Christmas present.” 

On the last Hogsmeade trip Harry had managed to find the perfect gift. He had needed to add a few spells and enchantments to make it suited their needs but it was finally ready for him to hand over.

“The last week of term is always mental. I wanted to make sure you got it.” He crossed over to where his bag was discarded and he pulled out the heavy rectangular parcel, wrapped messily in red paper with a bright green bow.

“Merry Christmas.” Harry kissed him on the cheek and handed over the present.

“Can I open it now?” Draco’s eyes were shining with the childish giddiness that everyone got when handed a gift.

“Yeah, sure.” He ripped into the wrapping paper and slid the bow off. He stuffed the green material into his pocket, he could think of more than one way to use it in the future. Thoughts of gratitude and repayment in sexual favours flitted through his mind.

The paper fell away easily, and Draco looked at the book in his hands. It was a journal. Leather bound. Or was it … dragonhide? On the front was a metal emblem of a dragon and it was held closed by an iron clasp. It was exquisite. It was a burnished maroon colour, natural from the dragon and not dyed like some leathers sometimes were, and the stitching along each side must have been hand finished because it was notoriously difficult to use charm work to shape dragonhide. The dragon emblem on the front was amazing, as he tilted the book backwards and forwards the Dragon moved its head to and fro and flicked its tail in pleasure at being admired.

“I love it. Thank you, Harry.” He stroked down the front of the journal with a reverence he hardly ever gave to inanimate objects.

“Open it.” Harry suggested. Draco touched the clasp and the familiar feel of Harry's magic tingled against his fingertips, “It will only open for you.”

He flicked the cover open gently, and a heavy, solid pendant on the end of a silver chain fell into his hand. It was a snake, wrapped around itself in a knot with it’s head reared and it’s jaws open to reveal tiny silver fangs. It was also warm with the tingling familiar residue of Harry’s magic. On the inside of the cover was a square mirror. Draco’s eyebrows pulled down in question. He knew he had a slightly vain streak but he wasn’t so bad as to need a mirror inside his journal.

“I love the pendant, but … the mirror? I’m really not that vain.” Harry laughed before reaching into his bag and pulling out an identical journal and a lion pendant.

“Watch.” He opened his journal and looked down into his own mirror, “Draco.” Harry’s face swam into view on the surface of Draco’s mirror, the perfect mirrored image of the Gryffindor standing in front of him. Draco almost dropped the book in surprise.

“I thought the parchment could be retired. It was only temporary anyway.” Harry explained, he pulled out a quill and began to write on the page in front of him. Draco saw the words appearing in the journal at the same time as the pendant warmed up in his hand.

“Two-way mirrors? Clever. And you’ve linked the journals to the pendants?” Draco was officially impressed, “And if I write in mine yours heats up I presume?”

“Exactly. No more missing messages because they’ve disappeared before we can get to the parchment. They’ll disappear as soon as the journal is closed and locked, and if we’re talking a lot we’re not limited by the amount of writing space anymore."

“This is wonderful.” Draco said honestly. He closed the journal and made sure the lock clicked shut before slipping it into his bag. He pulled the chain over his head to rest against his breastbone and grinned at Harry who was doing the same with his own lion pendant, “Thank you, Harry. Better than anything I could have asked for.” He kissed Harry deeply but pulled away before either of them could take it any further.

“Luckily, I anticipated this, and I also brought your gift. Not sure it’s quite as impressive I’m afraid, but I think you’ll like it.” He pulled out Harry’s wrapped gift and handed it over.

Harry pulled off the silver wrapping paper to reveal a small wooden box. It was sturdy and obviously well crafted, but plain. Function over beauty. Harry turned the box about in his hands and felt a weight within rolling from one side to the other. He ran his fingernail under the seam of the lid and with his thumbs he popped it off. He looked into the box first and saw a round orb sat in a bed of purple silk. He turned the box over and tipped it into his hand. It was warm to the touch and it was a solid heavy weight in the palm of his hand. The orb was big enough to sit in the centre of his palm but small enough for him to curl his fingers around it and hold it tightly. Harry regarded it closely there was something shimmering under the surface. Tendrils of something glowed from inside of it. Silvery and wispy white, swirling in hypnotic circles beneath the surface.

“It’s... pretty?” Harry rolled it between his hands and tried to work out what it was, the closest object he had come across was Neville’s Remembrall that was constantly sat on Neville’s bedside table, swirling with red smoke. But there wasn’t any smoke, grey or red, in the centre of this glass ball. Draco laughed and tapped his wand to it. A silvery ghostly figure rose out from under the surface of the orb. It was Harry, sitting on his Firebolt. His hair was swept back from his forehead and his glasses were askew and he was saying something…  _ “Release it Malfoy, bet you can’t make that catch again.”  _ This is what Draco saw the day they’d kissed for the first time. When they’d challenged each other on the Quidditch pitch.

“It’s a vessel, like a Pensieve. You know what a Pensieve is, don't you?”

“Yeah, I’ve seen one before. This is brilliant.” Harry was grinning as he watched the memory over and over again.

“I thought it could help you sleep, calm your mind. As well as help you store some important memories away.” Draco tapped the orb again and the memory disappeared into the swirling depths.

“Thank you, Draco. I love this. It will be really helpful.” Harry kissed him on the forehead, taking advantage of being the taller one in their relationship (“By two inches Potter.” Draco kept reminding him with a scowl).

“It’s even good for essays, you can use it to re-listen to a lecture as many times as you need.”

“You little cheat,” Harry was laughing, “I knew there was no way that you were paying attention in Binns’ classes and getting O’s every time.” 

“I shall neither confirm nor deny it.” Draco turned his nose up, in his usual familiar haughty pose. Harry laughed again and kissed him rather thoroughly, vowing to wipe that pureblood better-than-thou look off his face. It didn’t take long, the moment Harry’s tongue pressed against Draco's, the Slytherin was melting against him with a pleased sigh.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for a dialogue heavy chapter. I lost the first version of this one and I really struggled to re-write it, so it became a bare bones type of chapter. Hopefully it still gets the plot across.

Harry lost himself in Draco. His world narrowed to the sound of the small sighs escaping Draco’s lips. The hitch of breath that was caught in Draco’s throat. The flex of his fingers against the back of Harry’s neck. The hard line of his slender body pressed tightly against Harry’s. Harry felt like he was drowning, but if this was the end of him he would welcome it with open arms. He was leaning into Draco’s body, pulling him in closer and pressing them tighter together until they could hardly tell who ended and who began. Harry’s magic swelled up inside him, responding to Draco like gas to a flame. It only spurred him on. He found himself pressing his thigh between Dracos, grinding up into the hardness that he found there. Draco ripped his mouth away from Harry’s to tilt his head back with a strangled gasp of pleasure. So Harry’s mouth just fell to his neck instead, following the column of pale skin up to that little spot under the sharp curve of his jaw. Draco was … delicious.

“Merlin fuck. Where did you learn that?” Draco gasped, he cupped Harry’s cheeks and brought their mouths back together.

“I had an interesting summer.” Harry murmured against his lips

“Hmm?”

“Kissed a few guys,” A kiss to the corner of Draco’s mouth, “Kissed a few girls,” A kiss to the tip of Draco’s nose, “Kissed a few more guys.” 

“Realised that guys were better?” Draco asked with a pointed smirk and a deliberate cant of his hips.

“Girls have their merits but…” Harry shrugged, “They’ve got squishy bits. Kind of realised I didn’t like boobs quite as much as a straight guy should.”

“Pansy snogged me after the Yule ball last year.” Draco admitted.

“And?”

“She was wearing lip gloss, it was... Sticky.” Harry chuckled.

“So where did you learn how to do that thing?”

“Which thing?” Draco asked, and in reply Harry just rolled his hips in a mock, and significantly inferior, imitation of Draco’s smooth movements.

“Ah. I started my foray into the homosexual world last Christmas. One of my Father's French business contacts attended our Christmas Eve Gala and he brought his sixteen year old son.”

“Fit?” Harry asked.

“Not nearly as fit as you.” Harry grinned and kissed him in response.

“How far did you …?” Harry gestured between them, referencing the way their hips were practically glued together.

“Not all the way, just quick hand-jobs. It was … enlightening. And then during the Summer I spent a couple of weeks in Italy with Blaise-”

“Hitting on the Italian boys?”

“Quite. And a couple of weeks in France with Pansy.”

“Hitting on more French boys?”

“Rather a lot, actually. Before my Father summoned me home to be a good host to his Lord.” Harry kissed him on the forehead in a show of silent support.

“Well, consider me grateful for everything you’ve learnt.” Harry said with a large grin, and shrugged off the reference to Voldemort. He felt like it wasn’t really the best time to discuss that particular hurdle.

“How far have you gone?” Draco asked in return, since they were venturing down that particular line of questioning.

“Mostly just over the clothes stuff.” Harry shrugged one shoulder unashamedly, “I’m pretty much following my instincts for everything else.”

“Hm, well, it’s working.” Draco admitted, and Harry just chuckled. 

“Does your family know? About your preferences?”

“No,” Draco took a step away from Harry, immediately lamenting the loss of Harry’s body heat. But he didn’t think he could be this close to him while they discussed his impending marital doom, “I’m expected to provide heirs after all. When I turn sixteen my Father will be in the market for a marriage contract with one of the other pureblood families. He wanted to create one when I was born, but my Mother wanted him to wait until I could at least consent to the partnership.”

“Right.” Harry crossed his arms over his chest, and a frown took over his features.

“I’m obviously not going to go through with it.” Draco assured him.

“How could you not?” He was closing himself off and taking a step back. He was pulling away physically, but Draco could also feel him closing off emotionally.

“Because…” He grabbed Harry’s arm to force the Gryffindor to look at him properly, “Because I’m not going to be living under my Father’s thumb by the time I’m sixteen.” Draco forced himself into Harry’s personal space, he hooked his arms around Harry’s neck and pressed their foreheads together before the Gryffindor could protest.

“My original plan was to agree to any contract verbally but put off signing it, and then when it came to my seventeenth birthday I would be able to hire a lawyer and find a way to get out of it and force my Father to forget about a contract. After that I would be old enough to refuse any other contracts and make my own decision.”

“But you would still need an heir.” Harry pointed out.

“My best hope would be to find a woman who would be perfectly okay being in an open marriage. I would produce the heir my Father expects, then I would continue to follow my own desires in private.”

“But… To hide yourself from everyone?” Harry despaired. He closed his eyes and leaned more heavily into Draco’s embrace.

“It’s the Pureblood way. Besides, as I said, that was my original plan.”

“And now?” Harry caught Draco’s eye.

“Now?” Draco looked into Harry’s green eyes in return and smiled, “I think I would be a fool to let you go.” 

Harry kissed him. Long and slow. With his tongue sliding into Draco’s mouth and his fingers finding their way into his blonde hair.

“I choose you Harry.” Draco whispered against his parted lips, “I choose you.” He panted, “I’m yours. I think… I think I always was. Never could quite stop looking at you, or thinking about you.” Harry laughed deeply against his cheek.

“Let’s sit down.” Draco tugged him over to the pile of cushions.

“It won’t be easy, you understand?” Draco asked, once they were settled comfortably within the pile of soft furnishings. Harry’s thigh was pressed against Draco’s, and their shoulders bumped together with every movement.

“I know.”

“I still plan on going home for Christmas. I need to visit Gringotts, my plan is to cut my Fathers ties to my personal vault. Currently he has full access since he and my Mother opened the vault for me when I was a child.”

“If that plan fails-”

“It won’t.”

“If it does,” Harry took Draco’s hand in his own, “You’ll be given access to the Potter and Black accounts. I’m not as rich as the Malfoys, but I’m not exactly poor either.”

“Thank you. I hope it won’t come to that, I really don’t want to take your money.” He had more pride than that.

“The Black inheritance is yours by birthright, I’d only be giving you something that was already yours.” 

Draco was silent for a few minutes. He made no move to shift away from Harry’s body, or unlace the tangle of their fingers.

“Am I doing the right thing?” He looked over to Harry.

“I think,” Harry raised Draco’s hand to his lips and pressed a kiss over his knuckles, “That you are in no more danger away from Voldemort than you are being with him. He’s just as likely to turn around and kill you if you were you stood right next to him.” He kissed Draco’s wrist, “And I think that you shouldn’t feel guilty for finding a way out of that life.”

“Even if it puts my Mother in danger?”

“Your Mother would want you to be safe. And I  _ have  _ to believe that you’d be safer away from him. I have to believe it because if I don’t, then what have I been fighting for all these years?”

“Sometimes I feel like I’m being selfish.” Draco admitted quietly.

“You’re not.” Harry replied with conviction.

“How do you know? I’m parading around the school like nothing’s wrong, sneaking away and snogging you whenever I can, playing Quidditch, having fun with my friends. All while my Mother is trapped in a house with the Dark Lord. How is that not selfish?”

“My Mother died, and I’m alive. Am I selfish?” Harry’s tone was flat and even, as though he was commenting on the weather rather than speaking about something so deep and meaningful to him.

“No, of course not.” Draco answered, he was horrified at the very suggestion.

“I’m free, and I’m able to leave the house. But my Godfather is trapped in his own home. Does that make me selfish?” He looked at Draco with blank green eyes.

“No, Harry.” Draco urged.

“Last June. I escaped from right under Voldemort's nose, but Cedric was murdered. Does that make me selfish, Draco?”

“No.” Draco looked down at the floor, his hand still held loosely by both of Harry’s. He understood what Harry had been trying to tell him.

“You’re not selfish for living your life.” Harry glanced over at him again, happy that his message had seemed to get through to the stubborn Slytherin.

“And you truly think that I’m safer being on Dumbledore’s side than being on  _ His _ ?”

“Truly.” Harry shifted to his knees and knelt in front of Draco. He took Draco’s hand in his own and pressed a kiss to his knuckles. The magic that had been low key tingling against his skin the entire time they had been touching seemed to pick up, the tingle soon turned into a pleasant tickle between their palms.

“Voldemort rots everything and anything he comes into contact with. Nothing good or happy will exist if he rules the Wizarding world. He will destroy everything.” Harry stared into Draco’s eyes. He clutched Draco’s hand tighter, while both of their magics flared at the intensity behind Harry’s words and the heat of his touch, “He will kill anyone who refuses to kneel at his feet and bend to his will. No one is safe. Not his closest followers or his worst enemies. He’s mad, but he’s powerful, and that makes him the most dangerous threat the Wizarding world has ever had.”

“I don’t want him in my home,” Draco admitted, leaning close to Harry as though he were telling him a secret, “I don’t want to go back there and face him. What if I can’t look him in the eye and lie convincingly enough?”

“You’ll be okay, Draco.” Harry pressed their foreheads together, the pressure of his magic becoming almost too much for him to handle as it crackled around them.

“How do you know?” Draco’s magic reared up and crashed into Harry’s with the same level of intensity.

“Because you have me, and I promise I’ll protect you as much as I can.” Draco could feel himself losing control of his magic. He could feel it whirling around inside of him, rising up to the surface and crashing against Harry’s like a wave meeting a cliff. Harry’s power was an immovable force of nature and Draco’s parted for it.

“You promise?” Draco didn’t even have the energy to care that his voice came out small and frightened, like a child.

“Draco, I promise you, I  _ will  _ protect you. With everything I am, and everything I have, I  _ will _ protect you.” 

Harry’s magic swirled around them, engulfing them both in an invisible cocoon of wind. The dust on the floor was swept to one side. The pillows around them both were flung to the four corners of the room. Harry’s hair was lifted from his forehead, putting his scar on full display and Draco’s robe whipped out behind him. 

Harry’s hand tightened around Draco’s as the blonde clutched at him desperately. They didn’t know what was happening but they were entirely unwilling to part with each other. Draco’s magic curled between their palms. Tingling against Harry’s skin. Prickling. Itching. Burning.


	8. Chapter 8

“What’s going on?” Harry asked desperately but Draco had no response available.

The whole affair had lasted barely a minute. The sting between their palms faded quickly and left only a dull throb behind. Seconds later even that faded to nothing. Their magics retreated, and Harry was finally able to drop Draco’s hand. He was so busy inspecting his palm that he missed the faintest flash of hurt that ran across Draco’s face at the sudden loss of contact. 

“What was that? What the fuck happened?” 

“I didn’t know that would happen.” Draco defended himself instantly, “I swear. I wasn’t trying to trap you, I didn’t realise our magics were that attuned. I didn't know they'd react like that..”

Harry put his hands on Draco’s shoulders and said his name slowly, a pause between the syllables, “Dra-co. Slow down. Tell me what just happened.”

“You made me a promise.” Draco said unhelpfully. He looked up at Harry, expecting him to come to the same realisation he had. But the Gryffindor just stared at him blankly.

“What?” 

“Our magical cores interacted at one concentrated point of contact, and then you made me a promise. I think that my magic saw it as an Oath.”

“I made an Oath to you?” Harry was floored, there was simply no way this could be a good thing.

“To protect me. I think. If I remember the wording exactly.”

“I made an Oath … to protect you?” Harry asked flatly.

“I can feel it, can’t you feel it?" Draco pressed his hand to the centre of his chest and breathed in deeply, "You're right here." Draco could feel the little spark of flame within him.

Harry concentrated on the burning heat of his magical core. He focussed on the swirling tendrils of his power. And right there, at the very centre. Was a pale wisp. It was such a little thing, and Harry's magic could have dissipated it easily but it was being welcomed by the magic around it. It was being allowed to exist there and Harry's magic parted for it, allowing it to swirl happily around Harry's core like the wind that swirls around the trunk of an old oak tree.

Draco’s magic. It was a part of him now.

“Fuck.” Harry said plainly.

“I didn’t know that would happen. When I asked you to promise me. I swear.”

“I know.” Harry stood, and pulled Draco up onto his feet so that he could hug him tightly around the waist, “I know you didn’t.”

“Harry.” Draco breathed out as his mouth hovered over Harry’s. Barely an inch between them.

“Draco, my Darling Draco. Don’t you know I’ll always protect you? Oath or no Oath.” Harry took Draco’s face in his hands and sealed their mouths together for one solid kiss, he pulled back after a second to add, “I promise.” He smiled against Draco’s lips before returning to their kiss.

“We need to know what this means.” Draco said once he had pulled away from Harry enough to gather his thoughts, “We need to figure out what this oath entails, how far it expects your protection to go.”

“We need Hermione.” Harry said in agreement, “Tonight?” Harry asked.

“Probably best.” Draco was quiet and reserved. Obviously unhappy that Harry’s first thought was to involve his friends, but when no other suggestion came from Draco, Harry proceeded.

He looked at Draco for another second before calling, “Dobby.”

“Mr Harry Potter Sir!” Dobby appeared with a pop and fell into a low bow, his long nose brushing the floor as it usually did.

“Dobby?” Draco said incredulously from behind the elf.

“Young Master Malfoy!” Dobby placed himself between them, he held his hands out in defence of Harry, “You will not harm Harry Potter.” And Harry was getting flashbacks of the elf doing the same thing with Malfoy Senior in his second year.

“Dobby! Draco isn’t here to harm me.” Harry rounded the elf and knelt down in front of him, “I need you to do me a favour.”

“Anything Sir!” His high pitched voice went up a notch and Harry wouldn’t even have thought that such a thing was possible if he hadn’t heard it for himself.

“Could you go find Hermione and tell her we need her. It’s really important.”

“Yes Mr Harry Potter Sir, right away!” Dobby glared at Draco once more before disappearing with a pop.

“I wondered what had happened to him. My father wouldn’t say.”

“I kind of tricked your Dad into giving him a sock.” Draco frowned at Harry, before shrugging easily.

“He wasn’t a very good house elf anyway. Does he belong to you now?”

“No, he’s just a friend. He works in the kitchens.”

“Only you would be friends with a House-Elf.” Draco scoffed. Harry grinned at him.

“Add it to the resume of “Impossible Things that Harry Potter Does”?” Harry asked cheekily.

“You’re ridiculous.” 

“And it turns you on.” Harry reached for him.

“I deny everything.” Draco replied. But he allowed himself to be pulled close.

“Nah, you can’t now, even your magic loves me.” Harry swallowed Draco’s half-hearted attempts at denial by pressing his lips against Draco’s.

They kissed leisurely. Harry had his hands firmly on Draco’s waist, he was itching to slide his hands under Draco’s robes, under his Slytherin jumper and his crisp white shirt, just so he could feel the heat of Draco’s skin against his hands. Be he refrained, fisting his hands into the Slytherin robe instead and using it to anchor Draco’s hips to his own. Draco’s hands were cupping Harry’s jaw. His fingers were sweeping against Harry’s rough cheeks, sliding up the angle of his jawline to press forward into the nest of Harry’s thick hair. 

Harry forced his magic down back into his core when it tried to flare up to meet the demand of Draco’s skilled hands. It welcomed the Slytherin. It curled and twisted in pleasure whenever he touched Harry and it invited Draco’s magic to respond in kind. Draco hummed in pleasure against Harry’s lips, fighting the same battle with his own magic. Pushing it down and attempting to contain it within his core. They were both unprepared for Draco to be forcefully ripped away from Harry. 

Blue light had soared over Harry's arm and hit Draco squarely in the side, blasting him halfway across the room. Harry clutched his chest as a sharp burning pain knocked the breath out of his lungs.

Draco’s arse hit the floor first and he skidded a few more feet onto his back before Harry could process what the hell had just happened. With a hand clutching at his chest Harry rushed over to Draco and looked over at his two best friends who were standing at the open door. Hermione had put herself in front of Ron, briefly stopping him from casting anymore hexes in Draco’s direction. Ron was fuming. He was red in the face and glaring at Draco’s sprawled form on the floor.

“Weasel,” Draco stood up and swatted Harry’s hands away, “That was the first and last time I’ll ever let you get a shot in. As cheap and underhanded as that one was.”

“Fuck off Malfoy. Get your grotty hands away from Harry.” Ron managed to raise his wand again and Harry’s chest  _ burned. _

“I’m grotty?!” Draco laughed harshly, “Do they even have plumbing in that shack of yours? Or is it too expensive?” He spat.

“ Furnunculus!” Ron cast.

“Protego.” Harry defended, pushing Draco to the side and erecting a strong shield charm in front of them both.

“Ron stop.” Harry placated. Draco jeered behind him, “You too Draco.” 

“He hexed me! Twice!” Draco cried in defence of himself.

“You goaded him.” Draco huffed and threw his arms up in exasperation.

“Ron, please put your wand down. You’re making my chest hurt for fucks sake.” Harry allowed his shield charm to dissipate and he focused on rubbing the burning sensation away from his chest. Ron's wand arm fell to his side and he looked in shock at the two wizards in front of him. 

“Your chest hurts?” Both Draco and Hermione asked at the same time. They followed their question up with a “Where?” from Draco and a “Why?” from Hermione. 

“Fuck, this is going to be a long night.” Harry scrubbed his hand over his face, “Can anyone think clearly enough to get us somewhere to sit?” A comfy sitting area popped up in one corner of the room. Four equal couches surrounded a low square coffee table. Harry smiled at Hermione in thanks before walking over and collapsing on the nearest one. The pain in his chest had disappeared completely but he could remember the ache of it vividly. So this is what the Oath would do? Figures.

Draco kept one eye on Ron and sat down next to Harry. He put his hand on Harry’s arm in comfort and placed his wand on the table. Harry wasn’t out of it enough to miss the way he’d placed it facing Ron, the handle as close to the edge of the table as possible. Easily within reach. Harry signed and pulled out his own wand. He placed it haphazardly on the table, not really caring too much, he was fairly certain that no one was about to attack him after all. Ron sat opposite them and copied Draco, tip pointing straight at the Slytherin and handle slightly overhanging the edge. Hermione sighed at Ron in thinly veiled annoyance and sat on one of the middle sofas, her wand quickly joining the other three.

“What in the fuck is going on?” Ron asked eventually. Eyeing up the way Draco was holding onto Harry’s wrist.

“You know I said I was into someone,” Harry started, “Someone from a Death Eater family…”

“But … Malfoy?!” Ron exclaimed. He looked wildly between Harry and Draco before swinging his gaze over to Hermione, “And you knew?”

“I wanted to tell you slowly. You weren’t meant to find out like this. That’s why I asked Dobby to only send for Hermione.”

“Dobby just said that you were in the secret room with Malfoy and it was an emergency.” Hermione said, “Ron rushed down here before I could catch up to him.”

“Ah, yeah. That does kind of explain that entrance.”

“Explain his entrance? Harry, this cretin hexed me behind my back.” Draco exclaimed from next to him, “Surely some sort of Gryffindor-ness stops you from cursing someone when they’re not even aware you’re in the room?”

“Draco. Enough, please.” Harry looked at him with wide begging eyes and Draco threw himself back and crossed his arms across his chest in displeasure.

“Yeah, shut it Malfoy.” Ron agreed.

“Ron,” Harry leaned forward slightly, resting his forearms on his knees and looking across the square table to look at his best friend, “Draco’s my Boyfriend. Can you both please just accept each other for the time being, we can get back to this subject later alright.” Harry looked over at him and Draco preened under Harry’s gaze as the Gryffindor not only defended him against his best friend, but also put a label on their something-relationship in the same sentence.

“If he wasn’t molesting you against your will then what’s the emergency?” Ron asked, the sour note of distaste still on the tip of his tongue. Harry could tell he was dying to ask about a hundred questions but he appreciated his best friends ability to push it to one side for the time being.

“I don’t really know where to start-” Harry began.

“Harry and I are magically compatible.” Draco said.

“Yeah, that’s probably the best place really.” Harry agreed, “My magic reacts to his, and his reacts to mine.”

“Really?” Hermione asked, “How? Why? What does it feel like?”

“Like fire.” Draco answered as he slid his hand into Harry’s, “Harry’s magic is like fire, wild and powerful.” And at Draco’s touch that fire from deep within him reared up.

“Draco’s is like… the wind.” Harry explained, “But it doesn’t just react to your magic. It reacts to you. Every time you touch me.” Harry had turned towards him, and his eyes were boring into Draco’s. He ignored Ron’s wheezing across the other side of the table as he lifted their clasped hands to his mouth and pressed a gentle kiss across Draco’s knuckles.

Hermione cleared her throat and Harry jumped. He looked over at his two friends and blushed. Draco practically cackled next to him as he watched Harry’s blush spread from his face right down the back of his neck.

“The emergency?” She prompted.

“It seems that I’ve... unintentionally, made an Oath to Draco.” Harry said slowly.

“What kind of Oath? Unbreakable Oath?” Ron asked, he sat up straight and spared a glare at Draco before concentrating on Harry.

“I’m not really sure. Like I said, it was unintentional. Draco told me that he was deflecting to our side and I promised I would protect him. Our magic was on edge and I think it took that as an Oath because now we’re linked.”

“How?” Hermione asked.

“There’s a piece of Draco’s magic in me. It’s wrapped around my core.”

“That’s not good Harry, it could be doing anything to you. It could be poisoning your magic from the inside out.” Ron said 

“It’s not, it feels good. My magic isn’t fighting it, it’s welcoming it.”

“And Harry’s magic is inside me too. This is a two way street. It was a mistake on both our parts. But we had no idea this was even possible. It wasn’t a trick. It was simply an accident.” Draco added.

“That’s why it was hurting you Harry? Because you’ve made an Oath to protect Malfoy and someone was attacking him.”

“I wasn’t attacking him. I was defending Harry.”

“Felt like an attack to me, Weasley.” Draco glared at him.

“This could be really dangerous. Without you both actually verbalising the Oath your magics are free to dictate the parameters. And we need to see how far this thing goes and how much it will affect Harry. If Malfoy is attacked across the other side of the country, will it still affect you? And if he dies, do you die?” 

“No one’s dying.” Harry promised, his hand tightening it’s hold on Draco’s, “I’m not going to let anyone die.”

“We need to do some serious research into this. We’ll have to start tomorrow after classes. It’s already really late.” 

Harry checked his watch before nodding in agreement. The DA meeting had ended an hour before curfew as per usual, and he and Draco had been in the Room of Requirement for at least an hour after that. Which meant that curfew was almost upon them and Draco still had to get all the way down to the dungeons.

“You’re right.” He stood up and pulled Draco up after him. Hermione and Ron followed them to their feet and began to make their way across the room. They expected Harry to be right behind them, but Harry was too busy dragging Draco into a reluctant hug.

“It’ll be okay.” He murmured into Draco’s ear, “I promise.”

“We definitely need to remove that word from your vocabulary, who knows what other Oath you could make to me without intending to. For all we know you could accidentally promise to iron my socks everyday.” Harry laughed before pressing a soft kiss to his lips, ignoring Ron’s forced gagging from behind him. He lingered there for a couple of seconds before pulling away and joining Ron and Hermione at the door.

“Now you can tell me what the actual fuck is going on between you two. I know I said I was okay with you being into guys. I even said I was okay with it being a death eaters kid. But … Malfoy? Are you serious?”

“Dead serious.” Harry said, “He’s different.”

“He must be, if he’s letting you get all up in him.”

“I haven’t got all up in him…” Harry said in defence, “Not yet anyway.” 

Harry grinned and Draco made a strangled noise from behind him at Harry's scandalous statement. 


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Spoiler Alert*  
> Warning for scenes of an overt sexual nature.  
> Just porn, no plot.

The pendant warmed against his chest at three in the morning a couple of days later. Harry’s nightmare had already woke him up half an hour ago and he was too wound up to go back to sleep. He had been staring up at the red and gold hangings above him, thinking about the long corridor from his dreams. It was never ending. The same dream, over and over, he just  _ wished _ he knew what it meant. The warmth against his chest was a very welcome distraction from his thoughts.  _ Draco _ was a very welcome distraction. 

They hadn’t seen each other since they had exchanged gifts in the Room of Requirement. As much as they wanted to try and figure out what had happened between them, they had instead decided to focus on completing all their assignments first. Draco was determined not to let any outstanding essays spoil his Christmas, and the end of term was fast approaching. Luckily they hadn’t had any practical lessons since their last meeting, Harry really wasn’t sure how this Oath would react to someone pointing their wand at Draco. They were safer from such things this year more than any other with Umbridge’s blanket ban on students actually using magic in their lessons.

He lazily threw his arm out of the four poster hangings, barely lifting himself from the comfort of his mattress, and dragged the dragon hide journal towards him to see what Draco had written.

_ I’m hard.  _

Fuck. Harry sat bolt upright. If he hadn't already been awake before then he certainly would be now.

_ I had a dream about you.  _

Fuuuuck. His mouth watered. The images his mind conjured were beyond anything he had ever seen outside of his fantasies. 

Harry scrambled in his nightstand drawer for a muggle pen (because he was not about to trust himself with ink anywhere near his bed sheets). He pushed old scraps of parchment, quills, and a bottle of ink to one side before he finally found one. And looking down at the open book Harry noticed that Draco had continued to write. 

_ You were giving me a blowjob. _ Draco continued. 

Harry yanked the curtains shut again, and made sure that they were completely closed before muttering a silencing spell and a low Lumos so he could properly see what he was writing.

_ It was really fucking hot. _

Draco was still writing. Practically to himself, Harry realised, he didn’t think Draco had even intended for him to read the messages straight away. Probably expected him to check the journal in the morning, maybe he thought that by then the writing would have already faded from the pages. As though they had never been written.

_ I can if you want.  _ Harry finally replied between Draco’s sentences. He took a few seconds to answer after that. His reply came slower than anything else he had written so far.

_ I didn’t think you’d be up.  _ He backtracked. 

So Harry had been right. Draco had never really intended for him to read any of it.

_ Nightmares. It’s fine.  _ Harry really didn’t want to ruin the mood with talk of his depressing dreams he’d much prefer to focus on Draco’s,  _ What else was in your dream? _

_ Just you.  _

Harry could imagine Draco plucking up the courage to continue with the conversation. They’d never done this before, and Harry had to ask himself  _ why _ they hadn’t done this yet. Granted, they’d only had the journals for a few days but in those few days Harry had jerked off more than once to thoughts of Draco.

_ Fuck.  _ Harry replied.

He imagined those long pale fingers tightening around his quill, his steel grey eyes narrowing in focus and determination. He thought about how Draco would have a hand stuffed down the front of his trousers - no, not like that, he would take his time - his trousers would be pushed down to his ankles - yes, that was better. His hand would be his cock, at an awkward angle because his dominant hand was busy holding a quill. But it would still feel good. He would rock into his own palm, imagining that it was Harry holding him in a tight grip instead.

_ I think you should fuck me. Not now. But when we’re at that point, you should definitely fuck me first. _

_ Fuuuuuuckkk. Draco.  _

Harry fell back against the bed and slammed his head against the pillow as a low groan escaped his throat. He pressed his palm into his raging erection in a desperate yet feeble attempt to prevent himself from sticking his hand down his pyjama pants. He knew that if he started jerking himself off to the imagined feeling of pressing deep into Draco, then it would end all too quickly. And Draco was still writing to him.

_ How do you feel about that? _

_ Now I’m hard.  _ Harry replied truthfully.

_ Are you touching yourself?  _ Draco asked, his replies were coming faster now, as though he had given up thinking and re-thinking every word that he was writing and had given in to his desire.

_ No. Trying not to.  _

Harry dug his palm into his crotch almost painfully now. It succeeded in pulling him away from the point of orgasm that he found himself teetering on. He was almost ashamed at how fast he was ready to cum.

_ Touch yourself Harry.  _

Holy Merlin fuck Harry thought as he shoved his hand down his trousers, doing Draco’s bidding the moment the words appeared in the journal in front of him. 

_ Are you doing it?  _ Draco wrote a few seconds later when Harry was yet to respond. 

He didn’t want to admit that he hadn’t responded because the combination of finally feeling his hand on his dick and the image of Draco lying in bed doing the same thing, had so very nearly sent him over the edge entirely.

_ Yes.  _ Harry closed his fist around his cock with a firm grip.

_ Go slow.  _ Harry slowed his frantic movements at Draco’s command,  _ What are you thinking about? _

_ You.  _ Harry admitted.  _ Your eyes, your hands, your neck and your goddamn gorgeous arse. _

_ Think of me touching you.  _ Draco wrote. 

That would be easy enough, Harry had been thinking of that the moment he had told him to start touching himself.

_ I already am. _

_ Think of my mouth then.  _ Jesus. Merlin. Christ. And everyone and everything in between. 

_ Fuck.  _ Harry wrote.

The image of Draco’s pink lips, swollen from kisses wrapping around the head of his cock was almost too much. He had already lasted way longer than he had expected but even so, this was still about to be the fastest orgasm he’d ever had.

_ Stop. _ Harry dropped his cock instantly.  _ Don’t finish yet. _

_ How did you know?  _

_ Your handwriting.  _ Even halfway to orgasm Draco was an intelligent little bugger.

_ What are you doing?  _ Harry asked, eager to level the playing field. 

Draco was coming across so calm and collected while Harry felt like he was falling apart at the seams, being unravelled stitch by stitch by this wonderful Slytherin.

_ Touching myself, thinking of you.  _

_ Fuck, I want you.  _

Wow Harry, he thought to himself, what a way to level the playing field.

_ Keep touching yourself, don’t finish yet.  _ Harry kept his touch light and teasing. 

_ Tell me what to do Darling.  _

He gave up any pretence of pretending to be calm, cool and collected, it wasn’t working anyway. Draco saw right through it, as he always did.

Harry looked down at the book as Draco's face appeared in the mirror instead of more words appearing.

“I can’t concentrate on writing anymore.” Draco’s voice was deep and heavy with the weight of desire and the leftover vestiges of sleep. It took Harry a second to work out the angle from which he was looking down at Draco from. He realised the book must be levitating because both of Draco’s hands were out of sight, beyond the view of the mirror. But he did have a magnificent view of Draco’s bitten red lips and his mussed blonde hair.

“Fuck you look amazing.” Harry was quick to copy him, levitating the book so that Draco could see his face. He pulled his sleep shirt over his head and kicked his pants off eagerly.

“Show me what you’re doing.” Draco asked, Harry raised the book higher with the levitation charm so Draco could see his hand moving leisurely against the length of his cock.

“That’s so hot.” Draco groaned and Harry relished in the sight of Draco’s eyes fluttering closed in desire. The Slytherin might be unravelling him at the seams but right now he had no doubt that he was doing the same to Draco.

“Show me.” Harry asked in return. His mouth watered when Draco’s cock finally came into view. His head was pink, as pink as the bow of his lips, his shaft was long and flushed. His hand was wrapped tightly around the base, pressed against a trimmed and neat thatch of golden hair. Exactly what Harry would have expected from the usual coiffed and primped Malfoy.

“You’re fucking beautiful.” Harry said, awestruck. 

“Stroke yourself Harry.” Draco commanded. Harry’s hand began to move as though he were no more than a puppet on a string, “Slower,” And Harry slowed, “Twist your wrist slightly when you get to the head.” Harry followed his instruction and groaned deep in his throat. He imagined Draco’s fingers wrapped around him. Draco’s palm moving slowly down his erection. The twist of Draco’s wrist against the head of his dick. Fuck, fuck, fuck and fuck.

“Holy fuck.” He gasped out and dug his toes into the blanket beneath him, as his hands were otherwise occupied and he felt like he needed to hold on to something.

“Squeeze a little more.” And he did, “A little faster Harry. Imagine my mouth, imagine me sucking you off.” Draco’s breath was coming out hard, he was panting between words, his own hands copying Harry’s movements.

“Draco fuck, I’m gonna-”

“Cum for me Harry.” 

And he did.

Everywhere.

He let his head drop down onto the pillows below and he allowed his body to fall boneless against the sheets. His hand was covered in cum, and it pooled warm on his chest. But he found that he didn’t much care at that moment in time.

“Fuck. If I were there I’d lick that off your abs.” Harry grinned but didn’t open his eyes.

“Pretty sure you’ve just done me in there.” Harry said, and he finally cracked one eye open to look up at the book that still hovered over him, “When did you finish?” Draco was holding his finished cock in his hand and looked to be as completely sex-drunk as Harry was.

“Same time you did. That got me more randy than anything I could dream up.”

“That’s cause you’re a bossy little fucker, getting your rocks off telling someone else what to do.” Harry grinned cheekily and Draco huffed at him.

“You loved it.” 

“I really fucking did.” He murmured a cleaning charm and once his hands were free of cum he folded his arms under his head and looked up at Draco, manipulating the levitation charm back down so that they were face to face again.

“We should go to sleep.” Draco had plucked the book out of the air and propped it next to him. He was laid on his side and his eyes were starting to droop. The orgasm had completely knocked him out.

“Yeah, go to sleep, Darling.” 

“Hmm 'kay,” Draco murmured, “Love you.” He was so close to sleep that he didn’t even notice what he had said, and definitely didn't notice Harry freezing in the mirror or see the delighted grin spreading across Harry’s face.  Harry longed to reach out and smooth Draco’s hair down, to kiss him on the forehead and pull the blankets up to his shoulders so he wouldn’t get cold down in the dreary dungeons.

“Love you too.” He whispered. But Draco was long since asleep. Harry reached out for the journal and closed it with a snap. Making sure the clasp locked so their conversation would be erased.

He fell asleep with a grin on his lips, and his dreams full of pale blondes with fuckable mouths and impossibly blonde hair.


	10. Chapter 10

The last week of term was coming to an end. Despite Umbridge’s efforts, not even she could diminish the high mood the week was ending on. More students were going home than ever before, and they all couldn’t wait to escape the pink dictator that had taken over the school. Harry was one of those students. He had spent the last few days writing to Draco and talking to him through the mirror whenever possible, with the relationship between them developing, the lessons he usually dreaded were suddenly not so bad. History of Magic was just an excuse to doodle notes to Draco for a full hour, Divination had them sharing all the ways that Harry could die this year (Draco's suggestion, that he would suffocate to death under all the letters and gifts from his admirers, was winning so far) and Potions suddenly got so much easier when no one was trying to sabotage his potion. Half the time Snape was pairing them together in an attempt to rile Harry up, but he was just happy that he could spend an hour with his knee resting against Draco’s.

Harry should have known it was the calm before the storm. He had woken up two days before the start of the break with a shout on his lips and sweat soaking through his sleep shirt. Arthur Weasley had been attacked. Harry could barely wrap his mind around what had happened. He saw everything. Experienced everything. From the anger deep within him, to the blood of Mr Weasley filling his mouth. He felt sick. 

He felt even worse when the other Weasleys joined him in Dumbledore's office all looking confused and worried. He felt like this was his fault, rationally he knew it wasn’t but he’d felt  _ everything.  _ He wanted to apologise and explain exactly what had happened, but he wasn’t totally sure himself. All he could do was stand next to his surrogate family, watch them cry out in worry and clamour for their chance to ask Dumbledore questions. His fingers itched to write to Draco. The Slytherin had a way of explaining things to him, he could explain the complexities of the Wizarding world in a way Harry would understand. And he would know if this was possible, if Harry could have done this, seemingly without ever leaving his bed in the tower.

Harry was still as confused when he arrived in Grimmauld Place, the portkey messed up his already thin grasp on his stomach contents and he felt extremely green around the gills when he finally had his feet properly underneath him. Sirius greeted them glumly, he had squeezed Harry’s shoulder half to steady him on his feet and half as emotional support, and then led them all to the kitchen. He knew better than to try sending them to bed, he handed out cups of tea to busy himself but even that was wasted effort, the teacups only sat in front of them going cold as no one was really in any mood to drink it. Minutes passed and the only noise in the room was the shuffling of clothes and the clinking of teacups as people busied their hands with the china cups and saucers in front of them.

When Harry finally made it up to bed, he had recounted his story at least ten times. The questions became more and more brutal each time. He  _ wanted _ to tell them how he knew what had happened, how he had seen it, but he still couldn’t work it out for himself. He fell into a fitful sleep, his mind flitting between memories of Mr Weasley and memories of the long corridors he’d been dreaming about for months.

x

Draco sat at the Slytherin table for breakfast with one eye fixed on the Gryffindor table in front of him. Harry hadn’t answered the mirror this morning and hadn’t replied to any of his messages in the journal. He was worried, and the later it got the more worried he became when none of the Weasleys appeared either. Some of the Gryffindor fifth year boys came down halfway through breakfast and the table had started buzzing with gossip. Draco wanted so desperately to find out just what the hell was going on, when Pansy rushed in with news that she had overheard from a particularly loud group of gossiping Gryffindors.

“It’s Potter,” She said as she slid onto the bench next to him, Draco’s heart clenched in his chest, “Someone said he woke up screaming, they had to get McGonagall in the middle of the night. Something about someone being attacked. No one really knows.”

“Was it Potter?” Draco asked, trying to keep the worry from his face and out of his voice.

“No, someone said he was taken up to Dumbledore’s office with the rest of the Weasleys. Potter seemed okay though.” The fist that was clenched around his insides relaxed slightly. Harry was alive, mostly fine and in the care of Dumbledore. He didn’t like the older Wizard, but he was sure that Harry would be safe wherever he had been taken. Draco excused himself from the table and headed back down to his dormitory without a word to anyone else. He sat on the edge of his bed and flipped the journal open once more.

_ Harry _ . He wrote.  _ You better wake up and answer me. _

_ HARRY!  _

Draco wondered if he had been wearing his chain when it happened, it could have been left on his nightstand when he was smuggled out of the castle. But then a shaky response was forming on the parchment in front of him.

_ I’m okay.  _ Harry’s handwriting sucked at the best of times, but it was even worse when he was half asleep and, Draco suspected, without his glasses.

_ I’ve been so fucking worried.  _ Draco admitted. They had promised each other weeks ago to be as honest as possible when using the journals. It had taken him a few days to get used to the idea of being truly honest with another person. It wasn’t a trait they valued in Slytherin but it was a trait Harry valued in a Boyfriend so Draco vowed to try his hardest.

_ I’m fine. I saw something in a dream. Mr Weasley was attacked by a snake and I saw it all. _

_ A vision? _

_ More like real time. I was inside the snake. I saw it through the snake's eyes.  _ Harry finally felt like he could get everything off his chest.  _ It felt like I was attacking Mr Weasley, I wanted to hurt him. I wanted to kill him. There was so much anger inside me. _

_ It wasn’t you Harry.  _ Draco reassured him. He didn’t know what was going on, couldn’t explain it any more than Harry could. But he did know it wasn’t Harry. He didn’t think the kind hearted, bull-headed Gryffindor could even have enough hate inside him to kill someone he didn’t like, never mind someone he did.

_ How do you know? _

_ You don’t have that kind of hate in you, trust me I know. You didn’t even hate me after everything I’ve done, I doubt you’d hold any hate for the man you consider to be a surrogate parent. _

_ But it was so vivid. _

_ Possession maybe? _

_ Me possessing a snake?  _

_ A Parselmouths abilities aren’t fully known, maybe that has something to do with it? _

_ I don’t know, I have to go. Talk to you later. Go to class and don’t worry about me.  _

Harry shut the journal with a snap. It was still early and he hadn’t had a lot of sleep last night. He had woken to the lion pendant practically burning a hole in his chest and he realised that he had forgotten to write to Draco the night before to explain the situation. He felt slightly better after their conversation. There were still a lot of gaps to fill in, but Draco’s words had calmed him down enough to try and approach the situation logically. He had been in Gryffindor tower and he couldn’t apparate in or out of Hogwarts, so at least he knew he never left the grounds. He hadn’t physically done anything to Mr Weasley, despite what his dreams were telling him.

“You up mate?” Ron asked from the cot next to him.

“Yeah, did you get any sleep?” Harry replied as he slid the journal under his pillow.

“Not much.” 

“I’m really sorry about everything, I wish I could have done more.” Harry said as he swung himself round to sit on the edge of his bed to face his best mate.

“You saved his life Harry. Without you we wouldn’t even have known anything was up, nobody will have found him until morning and he would have …” Ron stopped himself from saying the D word. Harry couldn’t even think about losing Mr Weasley, so he could only imagine how Ron was feeling faced with the idea that his Dad could have died. Harry stood up and patted him on the shoulder as he left to go to the bathroom.

“Harry, I was just coming to find you.” Sirius was walking down the hallway towards him as he exited the bathroom a few minutes later, “Remus and I have something for you. We’ve been working on it since September.” Harry was curious as he followed Sirius down the hall and up a flight of stairs to the door of a bedroom that he knew had been closed off that summer. Full of doxys apparently.

“We thought that since this is actually your home. You should get your own room. It seemed only fair.” He motioned for Harry to open the door, “We hope you like it.”

The door swung open. And Harry’s breath caught in his throat. It was the biggest bedroom he had ever had. Sat in the middle of the back wall was a huge four poster bed, with blue hangings. There was a desk pushed up under the window on one side and a large wardrobe on the other.

“Remus decorated. I said we should go for red, but he thought something a little more subtle would be best. You can change anything you want, it’s yours.”

“Sirius, I… Thank you. I love it.” He looked around the room in wonder.

“It means all you boys don’t need to be squashed in that one room anymore. You can have Ron up here if you want but we thought you might want your own sanctuary. Kreacher can move your things up today as well.”

“Ron can have the bed in the other room. He’d probably prefer that to a cot on the floor anyway.”

“How are you doing Harry?” Sirius asked, as Harry started poking around the desk drawers.

“I’m okay.” Harry said distractedly, “I wish I knew what happened, and why I saw it, but I think I’m doing okay.”

“Dumbledore thinks it’s your connection to You-Know-Who.” Sirius said as he sat on the edge of the large bed, “He’s worried that you’re seeing through his eyes.”

“So… he thinks Voldemort was possessing the snake,” Sirius twitched at the use of his name, “And that I was...what? Possessing Voldemort?”

“Not to that extent, just seeing what he’s seeing.”

“Fucking great.” Harry said, scrubbing his hand over his scar.

“We’ll figure it out, Harry.” Sirius squeezed his shoulder in support, “Breakfast?”

“Yeah, please.” 

Harry walked down to the kitchen a step behind Sirius. He walked into the room and the conversations became stilted and quiet. Mrs Weasley turned to face him, she collected him in her arms and pulled him into a great loving hug.

“Thank you Harry. For everything.” Harry pressed his face into her shoulder and tried not to cry. This was his family, and he would have been just as heartbroken as anyone else had Mr Weasley actually died.


	11. Chapter 11

The first week of break went about as smoothly as could be expected. They received word that Mr Weasley was on the mend and very much alive. The visit to Saint Mungos had been brief but everyone got to hug Mr Weasley and wish him a speedy recovery and Harry was once again thanked for raising the alarm. Harry had smiled, but it was flat. He still felt like he was responsible. He still remembered the heat of anger surging through him moments before the attack, and even looking at Mr Weasley, weak and frail on the hospital bed had him pushing away the imprint of that feeling. He had to remind himself, that no matter how much his mind was playing tricks on him, he wasn’t actually responsible for any of it, and he really had saved Mr Weasley's life. It was something that he was telling himself daily, multiple times a day even, and was backed up by Draco’s wholehearted concurrence.

He spoke to Draco on a daily basis and had even started carrying the journal around the house with him so he could answer the warmth of the pendant as quickly as possible. The first day of Draco being back at Malfoy Manor had been the hardest for them both. The hairs on Harry’s arms had prickled with unease the evening after Harry and the Weasleys had arrived at the Black house. The feeling that something was wrong had caused him to quickly put down Quidditch Through the Ages and look around the room for anything out of the ordinary. The unease had flared and festered throughout the evening until goosebumps had sprung up on his arms and his chest ached with a dull throb. At that point Harry had realised that the feeling was coming from Draco. The situation with Mr Weasley had caused him to almost forget about the Oath. 

_ Are you okay? What is it? My magic is going fucking mental.  _ Harry had written to him, as soon as he realised where the unease was coming from.

_ Hard to feel safe when there’s a Dark Lord in your home.  _ Draco had replied, and there really wasn’t much that Harry could say to that. He wasn’t able to offer any support barring a few ‘ _ Be careful _ ’s.

So Harry continued through the week with a dull ache in his chest, while his magic coiled up ready to attack. The only thing holding any further pain at bay was Draco’s ability to keep himself calm in the face of danger. They had quickly realised that the Oath would become unbearable the moment Draco allowed his emotions to get the better of him. As they had realised on the second day of the break, when Draco had found himself rocking forwards and backwards in the middle of his bed, while hugging his knees and trying not to let his traitorous tear ducts get the better of him. Harry had started a mirror call almost instantly at the acute pain that particular episode had caused him, and had spent ten minutes desperate to hold his Boyfriend and calm him down from what he suspected was an anxiety attack. He had settled on babbling words of comfort down the two-way mirror, and hoping that Draco was taking some of it in as he calmed himself down.

“Are you okay Harry? Are you still thinking about the attack?” Hermione asked him one evening as they lounged about in the sitting room. She had arrived at Grimmauld Place when Hogwarts had broken up for the holidays. She had quickly opted out of going skiing with her parents, and Harry couldn’t say he was really too surprised, Hermione really wasn’t a sporty person and he was sure she would have hated it. She had decided that she would Floo over to visit them over Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day, but otherwise she would stay at Grimmauld Place with the rest of them. Harry was rather glad to have her there, she was a calm voice of reason when he had shared his worries over his part in the attack, and she was a fresh face to turn to when he found himself face to face with redhead after redhead, each more tense and worried than the last.

“No. It’s…” Harry glanced around and noticed that he, Ron and Hermione were the only three in the room, “It’s Draco. He’s constantly on edge because Voldemort’s at the manor. The Oath is going crazy.” He rubbed at his chest once more, as though that would suddenly reduce the emanating pain.

“That’s interesting. So it works across long distances? And it’s attuned to Malfoy's emotions and his perception of danger?” Harry nodded and allowed her to start scribbling down notes on the parchment next to her, “What does it feel like?”

“At first I felt really uneasy, like I knew something bad was going to happen. But over the past couple of days it’s been this constant burning and aching right here.” He rubbed his chest for the millionth time that day. She nodded and began to scribble on the parchment, Harry would ask what she was writing but his concentration was shot to hell, and he really couldn’t find it within himself to care at that moment in time. He knew that Hermione would come to him if she managed to figure something out or if she needed more information.

x

Harry had been cornered that evening by both the twins. They had sat down on either side of him on the small couch in the sitting room and boxed him in preventing escape of any kind, and Harry had a sneaking suspicion of what this was regarding.

“Little Harry.” George said from his left. Harry huffed, he was hardly little, he just wasn’t as tall as the Weasleys because they were all fucking giants. 

“We overheard something earlier...” Fred said from his right.

“Something interesting...”

“A little nugget of gossip you could say.”

“What is it guys? I’m really not in the mood.” Harry sighed in frustration. He couldn’t deal with the ping pong conversation, he could barely muster the energy needed to sit alone and idly flip through the Quidditch books he had borrowed from Ron. 

“We just want to know…” George picked up the book on the Chudley Cannons that Harry had been looking at and flicked through it casually.

“When the evil little blonde git Malfoy…” Harry froze.

“Became Draco…”

“To you.” Fred finished.

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Harry lied, “I need to go see-” 

“Now Harry.” George was quick to drag him back down when Harry tried to stand up from between them.

“We knew you’d been seeing someone.” Fred continued.

“We originally just hoped that it wasn’t our sister.”

“But with you being a raging homosexual I guess we don’t need to worry about that now.”

“I’m not a  _ raging _ homosexual.” Harry defended lightly, but he wasn’t in much of a position to deny the rest of it.

“How long have you been fucking the Malfoy spawn?” George asked.

“I’m not fucking him.” On that point Harry could defend himself. Mutual orgasms - yes. Sex - no.

“But you want to?” Fred asked.

“Guys, seriously, let me go.” Harry tried to fight his way free once again.

He was saved by Sirius bursting into the room and exclaiming, “Who’s Sirius?” he laughed at his own joke as he threw himself down on the armchair with a booming laugh.

“Sirius, we were just trying to find out who Harry’s been writing to all week. We thought he might have a girrrrrlfriend.” Fred sing-songed and the twins snickered as though this was the best prank ever.

“Do you Harry?” Sirius asked, leaning forward in the overstuffed armchair and pinning him with a grin that reminded Harry of his Animagus counterpart.

“No.”

“He’s bluuuushing.” George poked at his cheek.

“Are you sure? You have been writing an awful lot, love letters maybe? Do you need any advice? I was quite the ladies man in my time.” Sirius grinned devilishly.

“No I-”

“Because you know Harry, women are finely tuned creatures-” Sirius continued, cutting off Harry’s attempt to set him straight.

“I don’t-”

“You need to treat them right, give them the right gifts.” 

“Sirius-”

“You don’t want to drive anyone away by not treating them right Harry.” 

“I have a boyfriend!” Harry shouted over Sirius. He finally managed to stand up from the sofa and he pushed passed the snickering twins and practically fled the room.

Which led to Sirius asking him at all times of the day who his boyfriend was. Which house he was in? What colour was his hair? What side his family was on? Anything and everything he could ask in order to get some sort of clue as to who Harry was seeing. Harry kept his mouth shut on all accounts. He was impressed that Ron and Hermione had managed to withstand the questioning as well, and was even grateful that the twins had kept their mouths shut on the subject. Anytime Sirius had turned to them to ask them what they knew, the twins would burst out into cackles of laughter until Sirius gave up and walked away. 

He was getting so ridiculous with his questions that Harry had been leaving his journal in his room so that Sirius would leave him alone about it. He wasn’t worried about Sirius trying to take a peek at what he was writing, mostly because his charms were far too strong for that, but he was reaching the end of his tether and really didn’t have the patience for him and his questions. Now and then he wished that he didn’t have someone in his life who was so interested in who he was seeing, Merlin knew no one had ever cared before, but he found himself regretting those thoughts as soon as they crossed his mind. He had to remind himself that it was normal for a parent, or a parental figure, to be invested in their kids life, and he really was grateful to have Sirius take up that parental role. He just wished he could talk to Draco non-stop like he had been doing before without the extra scrutiny.

Apart from this obvious annoyance, Christmas was really nice. Mr Weasley had come home from the hospital on Christmas Eve. He had welcomed his family with hugs and kisses and at the end of the line of welcomers was Harry. He took Harry's hand in both of his and shook it fiercely. He reiterated the same thing everyone else was saying, Harry had saved his life, and without Harry he would have died. Harry had just looked down at his feet in shame. Shame that the urge to kill reared up inside him every time he looked at Mr Weasley. But it was only the imprint of rage, the memory of it, he reminded himself (again).

“He’s blonde.” Harry finally admitted through gritted teeth. Sirius had worn him down over Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, asking his incessant questions about who Harry was seeing. The burn in his chest was increasing daily and he had to concentrate to get through even the smallest task. He wanted to hunt Draco down and drag him out of the manor to keep him safe. His magic was telling him to protect. To keep his Oath. And it knew Harry could be doing more to fulfil it.

“Blonde?” Sirius hummed in appreciation, “Blondes are great. Pureblood?” Sirius asked for the third (fourth?) time.

“Yeah. Sirius can you just back off. Please.” Harry winced as he realised what he had just revealed, there weren't many blonde, male, Purebloods in Hogwarts after all.

“Pureblood? Seriously?” Sirius looked at him in shock, “I didn’t think you’d go for that. Is it the Longbottom boy?”

“Sirius,” Remus warned from across the room, he was playing chess against Ron and was staring at the board in concentration, “Leave Harry alone for a bit.”

“But I just-”

“Sirius!” Sirius’s mouth clamped shut at Remus’s snapping tone, Remus was quick to soothe his ruffled feathers by following it up with a calm, “Harry obviously isn’t feeling well. Let him go up to bed.”

Harry had never felt so grateful. He left the sitting room quickly before Sirius could reply, and disappeared up to his room. He grabbed the journal off his desk and bounced into the middle of his bed.

_ Do you feel as shitty as I do today?  _ Harry wrote.

_ Probably.  _ Draco replied a few minutes later,  _ Things are getting bad here.  _

_ Are you in danger?  _ Harry sat up straight as the serious nature of the conversation took over. 

_ I don’t know. He’s bringing people to the house and torturing them. And he’s doing it over dinner as though it’s entertainment. I’m talking to my Mother tonight, I’m going to tell her everything.  _

_ Stay safe. _

Beyond anything else, Harry thought to himself, stay safe.


	12. Chapter 12

Harry woke up suddenly. The familiar burn in his chest flared into a sharp sudden stab of pain and his lion pendant thrummed with the burning warmth of magic.

Draco was in trouble.

Harry grabbed the journal quickly and read the only thing Draco had written.

_ He knows.  _

Harry threw himself out of bed, he kicked the tangled covers away from his legs and tore open his bedroom door in desperation. He thundered up to the next floor, bare feet slapping hard against the stairs and hardwood floors, and hammered on Sirius’s bedroom door. The pain in his chest was a sharp stab and Harry was practically sweating with the effort of staying on two feet. He leaned against the door frame heavily, and attempted to catch his breath in the few seconds it took for someone to wrench the door open from the inside.

“He’s in trouble. I need Dumbledore. I need the Secret.” Harry insisted.

“Harry? What?” Sirius rubbed at his eyes groggily.

“My boyfriend. He’s in trouble.” Harry was gasping at the agony in his chest and didn’t have time to explain everything, “I need the secret to bring him here.” Harry turned away from the open door and made his way down the stairs, he clutched at the banisters with a white knuckled grip and just hoped that Sirius was following close behind. He knew the fireplaces in Hogwarts were being watched but the only solution he had was the Floo. He made his way down the stairs and into the sitting room as quickly as he could. He looked around for Floo powder but his gaze instead caught on the portrait in the sitting room. Phineas Black. He was sitting in his frame watching Harry curiously and Harry recognised him from one of the portraits in Dumbledore's office.

“I need Dumbledore. Immediately. It’s an emergency. Life or death. Please!” His sentences were short, gasped out between great breaths. The former Headmaster disappeared without a word and Harry desperately hoped that he was going to get Dumbledore. Sirius tried to put his hands on Harry’s shoulders to keep him still for the two seconds he needed to ask what the bloody hell was going on, but Harry shrugged him off when the pendant warmed again. He pulled open the journal that he had hardly even noticed grabbing when he fled his bedroom.

_ He’s coming after me. He knows. Going to Gringotts. Emptying accounts. _

Draco’s usual flowing and practiced handwriting was scrawled and messy, as though he was writing on the go.

“Harry, my boy?” Dumbledore was here and so were the rest of the house’s occupants, gathered in the doorway of the room and out into the corridor beyond.

“I need the Secret.”

“Harry, that’s not something I can just give without knowing who I’m giving it to.” Dumbledore was trying to be calm and pragmatic but Harry didn’t have time for that bullshit.

“Voldemort is going to kill him. He’s in danger. Please, I need to help him.”

“Harry, it just isn’t possible.” Harry was gripping the fireplace with one hand.

“Harry will die.” Ron half fibbed as he pushed through to the front of the group, they hadn’t yet even tried to prove or disprove the possibility of Harry dying but it certainly felt like it in this situation and Harry was really grateful that Ron was jumping to defend him. Especially when he didn’t have the breath left in him to explain the situation.

“If you don’t help, Harry will die.” He said again, his arms crossed and his voice firm, “Look at him. Does that look like someone who’s just worried?” Harry was almost doubled over. His knuckles were white with the effort of holding himself up. His face was covered in a sheen of sweat, his shirt was almost soaked through with sweat. He was pale, clammy and breathless.

“What?” Sirius gasped from the doorway, he looked devastated.

“What have you done Harry?” Dumbledore asked. Ron stepped around the Headmaster and took Harry’s arm, helping him to sit down on the low couch in the centre of the room.

“Accident.” Harry gasped out.

“Harry accidentally made an Oath to protect his… Boyfriend. They’re magically compatible and they did it without realising. He’s in pain whenever his … Boyfriend is. If he dies, Harry dies.” Ron gripped Harry’s shoulder and looked up at Dumbledore, “And I don’t think you want that. Do you Headmaster?” Without needing to put energy into standing Harry could concentrate enough to open the journal again.

_ Hogwarts after Gringotts. Muggle transport only. Are you there? _

Harry hadn’t even responded yet. He couldn’t, he’d completely forgotten to grab a quill or a Muggle pen in his panic.

“Who is it?” Dumbledore asked.

“Harry?” Ron was looking at him, asking his permission.

“Draco Malfoy.” Harry gasped out, “Please, he needs help.”

“As I suspected,” Harry ignored the spluttering of the Weasley clan behind him, ignored Remus grabbing Sirius by the shoulder and hissing his name low and dangerous,  _ “Sirius.”  _ Before his Godfather could jump forward and demand answers.

“Very well Harry.” Harry handed him the journal. Draco’s last words still lingering on the page. 

“Arthur, Molly, send the call out if you would. We need someone to retrieve young Mr Malfoy from Diagon Alley. He is in immediate and grave danger.” Harry didn’t turn as he heard the Weasley Matriarch and Patriarch leaving the group.

“I’m coming.” Harry said and tried to stand up, Ron’s hand was firm on his shoulder, pressing him down into the cushions.

“You are in no fit state Mr Potter. We will retrieve Mr Malfoy and bring him back here.”

“No, I need to go. I have to protect him. I’ll feel better once I’m actively doing something to help him. That’s the way it works.”

“Harry-” Ron started to say.

“He won’t trust anyone but me. He won’t come with you and he’ll try to fight.”

“I think we can take a fifteen year old.” Came a scoff from behind the Weasleys, one of the Order members who had stayed the night for the extra protection from Grimmauld Place. 

“And you’ll be hurting Harry in the process.” Ron defended.

“No Harry.” Sirius said, agreeing with Dumbledore firmly.

“Fine,” He snapped, “Who’s going?” Harry asked, he pulled the pendant out from around his neck. 

“I will.” Remus said.

“Me too.” Bill said from Mr Weasley's side, “Malfoy or not, he’s still a kid.”

“Take this, he knows this is mine.” Harry held it out to Remus. Some of the pain in his chest alleviated. He could finally fill his lungs with oxygen, “I need a quill.” Harry took the quill that someone handed Ron and began to write.

_ Go to Gringotts. Stay there. Someone is coming for you. They won’t let me leave the house but they’re bringing you to me. Remus Lupin has my pendant. _

_ Yes. _

_ Keep moving Draco. Get yourself to Gringotts whatever you do. _

_ Almost there. _

Molly came back into the room quickly, she listed off a few names who had volunteered to meet them at Gringotts. Harry didn’t bother to listen. He was staring down at the page. He wanted to activate the mirror but he had no idea of Draco’s current circumstance and couldn’t risk alerting anyone to where he was. But rallying the Order seemed to be enough for the Oath. His chest was still aching, still burning, but the sharp stabbing had dissipated.

Remus, Bill and a few others who had been staying in the guest rooms left the room quickly with their wands in hand. Harry gripped Ron's arm and used it as a crutch to stand up. He sighed in relief when his legs held his weight and didn’t buckle under the pressure. His forehead was still slicked with a thin layer of sweat and he was thankful for the refresher charms that Sirius shot at him. 

“It’s enough.” Harry said to Ron by way of explanation, “It’s not the best I could do, but the Oath is accepting it.” Ron nodded.

“Mate,” Harry pulled Ron into a one armed hug, “Thanks.” He hadn’t been able to explain the situation through his panic and Ron, fantastic, loyal Ron, had stepped up to his side. Harry couldn’t put into words how grateful he was that his best friend had stood by him when he most needed him to.

“Well I still don’t like him. But he’s your ...Boyfriend or whatever, and something must have changed for you to like him so much. So I accept that. Sorry that it’s taken me a little while.”

“I get it Ron.” Harry nodded, and he really, truly, did.

“Tea everyone?” Sirius asked as he led the way into the kitchen. Harry was last to enter the room, he took a seat at the table closest to the kitchen door so he could hear if anyone entered the house. The journal was open in front of him. He didn’t want to miss a message from Draco since he no longer had his pendant to warn him when a massage had appeared.

_ Accounts emptied  _ Draco wrote twenty minutes later. His handwriting had returned to the flowing script that Harry was so used to seeing,  _ Plus a little of the Malfoy inheritance off the top. Just a few thousand galleons, they’ll never even notice. _

Harry laughed despite himself and everyone in the room turned to look at him.

“He made it to Gringotts okay.” Harry explained with a small grin, happy in the knowledge that Draco was safe enough for the time being. The Gringotts Goblins were nasty little buggers when they wanted to be, but they wouldn’t allow an attack to happen on their soil.

Molly looked like she wanted to usher them all to bed. She was tapping her fingers against the table and looking at the clock with a grimace. Harry knew it would be a lost cause anyway. The Weasleys wouldn’t go back to bed because their brother had just left. Sirius wouldn’t leave because of Remus. And she should just be lucky that Harry wasn’t standing in the entrance hall waiting for the door to open.

Fifteen minutes later the front door did open. 

Harry jumped to his feet and was halfway to the kitchen door when it opened from the outside, Remus walked through with his hand firmly on Draco’s shoulder. Harry couldn’t tell if it was to restrain him or steer him in the right direction, but he found he didn’t care. He was safe. He was here. He was almost within arms reach.

Harry marched over to Draco. He grabbed him by the waist and pulled him into a desperate kiss. Draco’s hands fisted in the front of his shirt and the tense line of his shoulders relaxed into the warm embrace that he so desperately needed. Harry’s chest eased in response. The week-long pain ebbing further away the longer he held Draco close. He pulled back from the kiss, arms still firmly locked around Draco’s waist and looked him in his stormy grey eyes. 

“I love you.” Harry said firmly, he was aware that he was saying this in front of all of his friends and family but he didn’t care. His tone suggested that he wouldn’t even try to accept any arguments, from Draco or anyone else who was watching. Harry was dimly aware of Sirius clasping his hand on Remus’s arm and squeezing in relief. Out of the corner of his eye Molly was pulling her eldest son into a hug.

“Such a Gryffindor.” Draco said, but he couldn’t hide the way his lips curled up in pleasure. They ignored the indignant shouts of “ _ Hey! _ ” from the rest of the room and shared another small kiss.

Then Harry truly looked at him. His skin was sallow and paled. He had dark circles under his eyes and his cheeks were pinched and withdrawn. He looked, unwell. Harry lifted a hand and cupped his cheek, he ran his thumb under Draco’s eye, as if by some miracle his bags would disappear at his very touch, and his skin would regain the healthy glow that Harry remembered.

“Mr Potter, Mr Malfoy. I do believe that we must take this meeting to the sitting room. Might I suggest that everyone else return to their beds. I’m sure there’ll be plenty to talk about in the morning.” Dumbledore ushered them to the next room.

“I’m coming too,” Sirius said, “As Harry’s guardian.” And Dumbledore couldn’t argue with that. Even though it looked like he wanted to.

Harry and Draco sank into the old settee in the sitting room, side by side and hand in hand. Dumbledore pulled a chair from the side of the room so he could sit opposite them and Sirius perched himself in an armchair off to one side. Harry had a feeling he was about to get an earful from them both, but he just clutched Draco’s hand tighter and waited for Dumbledore to speak.

“I am very interested to find out how this happened, Harry-”

“Yeah me too.” Sirius added from the side.

“But as it is the middle of the night, I will allow you both a couple of days to recover from this stressful event.”

Harry sighed in relief, he almost couldn’t believe his luck.

“However, as I have not had the chance to go through the usual safety measures with Mr Malfoy I will have to ask him to give up his wand-”

“But-” Harry stood up in outrage, his eyes spitting fire at the Headmaster. Draco’s hand flew to his pocket and gripped his wand to his chest in desperation.

“Just until we have completed the necessary safety measures. I will return Mr Malfoy’s wand to him after my next visit. And, as you’re both not on Hogwarts grounds neither of you should be performing magic, so this should not be that much of a sacrifice.”

“Okay.” Draco agreed.

“Draco-” Harry tried to protest again.

“It’s okay Harry, I’ll get it back after all.” Draco gripped the handle of his wand. He looked at it fondly before placing it in Dumbledore's outstretched palm. He shifted uncomfortably, suddenly feeling extremely vulnerable.

“Right you are Mr Malfoy. I trust you will both keep to yourselves, the friction between the Weasley family and the Malfoy family has not gone unnoticed by me, and all of us would hate to see anyone harmed in the coming week.”

“Yes sir.” Harry agreed through gritted teeth. 

“When I return Mr Malfoy, I will be giving you a dose of Veritaserum and will be questioning you as to your allegiances. I will bring Professor Snape with me to act as your guardian and as a witness, as he is your Head of House I hope this is satisfactory?”

“Professor Snape is a Death Eater.” Draco responded immediately, Harry sat back down next to him and once again took his hand, “He’s been at Malfoy Manor. I’ve seen him.”

“Thank you my boy, but Severus Snape’s allegiance is not one I need to question.” Draco’s brow furrowed in confusion.

“He’s a spy?”

“Professor Snape is loyal to only one person and I have faith in his loyalty. Now where was I…? Ah, yes, following Veritaserum I will require you to make a binding Oath that will prevent you from telling anyone about this house and any secrets within.”

“I want to make the Oath to Harry.” Draco said. His jaw was tense with determination and Harry could only gape at him, “He is bound to me. And it’s only fair that I bind myself to him.”

“I will think about it Mr Malfoy. If that is all? I shall bid you a goodnight.”

“Professor,” Draco called before Dumbledore could leave, “If you have a list of missing persons, Muggle and Magical. I might be able to tell you who was at the Manor.”

“Thank you Mr Malfoy, I shall send a list to you by tomorrow evening.” Draco nodded.

“Goodnight sir.” Harry mumbled, still staring at the side of Draco’s head as though the blonde had gone completely senile. Dumbledore left, leaving the two teenagers in the room with Sirius.

“So Harry … A Malfoy?” Harry turned to him slowly and rubbed the back of his neck.

“Yeah.” Harry replied, Draco sat silently next to him.

“A blonde Pureblood?” Sirius asked, and Harry blushed, “I mean, I really should have guessed. You can’t get any blonder or any purer than a Malfoy.” Sirius laughed at himself

Draco seemed to like that. He sat up straighter and ran a hand through his hair, pushing it back into place. He smoothed down his robes and practically preened under the half compliment.

“You don’t care?” Harry asked.

“If he’s willing to turn on You-Know-Who for you then I think he’s alright.” Sirius shrugged.

“He’s pretty great.” Harry agreed, grinning across at Draco. Draco blushed, though he would deny it to anyone who dared to point it out to him.

“Off to bed now. I’ll conjure a cot for Draco in your room Harry.” Sirius said as he stood up and motioned for the two teenagers to follow him.

“That won’t be necessary.” Draco commented much to Harry’s dismay. Harry flushed in embarrassment at his Godfather's loud chortle and elbowed Draco in the side. Draco just grabbed his arm, “Your room Harry? I’m about ready to pass out I think.” And as he said it he covered his mouth with his hand and yawned massively. Harry couldn’t believe Draco was here with him. He was itching to find out what had happened at the Manor, why Draco had fled in the middle of the night, but he knew all that could wait until morning. Right now they could bundle themselves up under his covers and just be happy that they were safe and together.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Spoiler Alert*  
> Warning for scenes of a sexual nature  
> (50% plot, 50% porn)

Harry woke up from the most restful sleep he’d had in weeks and for a moment he couldn’t understand why. He sat up slightly and pressed a hand to his chest, expecting the usual burning sensation to be hovering about under the surface. But it was gone. The goosebumps down his arms and the unease in the back of his mind was gone too. And then Harry remembered why. 

He looked over to the other side of his bed and found Draco. The blonde was lying on his front with a dark blue pillow clutched to his chest and one leg thrown out casually to the side. His hair glowed almost white against the dark background of his sheets and he looked phenomenal. Harry slipped out of bed quietly in an effort not to wake the blonde up, he was determined to let Draco sleep for as long as he needed. He knew how little sleep he had been getting at the Manor, and he could see it in the sallow, gaunt look he arrived with last night. Harry got dressed quickly and left the room as silently as possible. It was midday, which meant they had slept the entire morning. He couldn’t say he was surprised and he was sure no one would really blame them for it. 

He pushed the door open to the kitchen and stepped through. The conversations stopped so suddenly that anyone observing would have thought that he had just cast Silencio across the whole room.

“Good afternoon.” Harry said as he grabbed a pastry from the plate in the middle of the table and collapsed into the chair next to Ron.

“Afternoon mate.” Ron replied with a grin. The only one who replied. Harry looked around the room, at everyone’s curious glances, he knew they had questions. Hell,  _ he  _ had questions.

“What?” Harry asked, feigning innocence.

“How long have you and Malfoy been fu-” Fred cut himself off after glancing at his Mother, who looked like she was about to beat him over the head with her wand, “Together?”

“Couple of months.” Harry replied as he shoved half the sweet treat into his mouth, Merlin he was hungry.

“And you’re already in love with him?” Ginny asked from Ron’s side.

“Yes.” He responded immediately.

“And this Oath Harry, how did that come about?” The question came from Remus, who was leaning against a kitchen cabinet with one leg crossed over the other, a steaming cup of coffee cradled in his hands.

“It was an accident. Our magic kind of… reaches out to each other. I promised I’d protect him and our magic took that literally.” Harry shrugged, “Of course, I would do anything to protect him anyway... But it definitely wasn’t intentional.”

“Why did Malfoy need rescuing in the middle of the night?” George asked.

“The Dark Lord is at Malfoy Manor.” The reply came from the door. From Draco who was standing in the doorway, having walked in as George was asking the question. He was wearing the same trousers from yesterday, Harry noted, and had pulled on one of Harry’s shirts. His own folded away in his trunk, which was still shrunken in the pocket of his robes and without a wand he would need to ask someone to unshrink it for him. The Order members in the room all nodded their heads in understanding, they had suspected as much. It wasn’t a surprise that Voldemort would hole himself away at the most heavily warded estate in the country.

“I was talking to my Mother about my choice to support Harry when I noticed that we had been overheard by the Dark Lords snake. I thought we had been in a safe place, obviously I was wrong. We managed to make it back to my rooms and my Mother forced me through the Floo when he started throwing curses at my bedroom door. I put up a quick ward and it was probably the only reason I managed to get away, but my Mother...” Harry stood and beckoned him to sit down next to him. Draco ran a hand through his hair nervously as he took a seat amongst the many Weasleys and took a pastry from the plate that Harry was offering him.

“I’m so sorry Draco.” Harry said softly from next to him.

“Yeah, Sorry Malfoy.” Ginny agreed as she pushed a jug of pumpkin juice across the table towards them both. A peace offering. Draco saw it for what it was and he gave the youngest Weasley a small smile and poured both himself and Harry a glass.

“She might be alive.” Draco said quietly, “But I think it would be better for her if she were dead. The things he does to people.” Draco glanced up at the company around him, Gryffindors, most of them innocent and of school age. There were only two people in the room (barring the adults who had been involved in the first war) who could understand what he had witnessed, “You wouldn’t even begin to imagine.” 

Harry could. And when he looked over at his best friend he knew Ron could too, and had Hermione still been at Grimmauld they knew that she would be nodding along with them and looked at Draco with sympathy. They had faced Voldemort enough to know exactly what constituted proper punishment in his eyes. They knew exactly what Mrs Malfoy would face if she had managed to stay alive.

“She did it to save you Draco dear,” Molly said, finally speaking up, “If it were any of my children, I would protect them with my life in an instant. She would be happy to know that you are safe and in good hands.” The Weasley s around the table nodded emphatically, as they looked around at each other in silent support.

“Harry, can we go upstairs?” Draco hissed at him as the Weasleys all tried to carry on with their normal conversations. But Draco felt their side glances sliding over him. Still curious. Still with a million questions that they wanted answers to.

“Everything okay?”

“Just need a bit of space.” Draco replied.

“Yeah, sure, of course.” He stood up with Draco’s hand in his and they left the room together. Draco instantly felt like he could breathe easier now that he didn’t have ten people silently judging him. They were silent up to the second floor when Harry finally spoke.

“I was so fucking worried.” Draco’s hand tightened in his own but he was silent as Harry continued, “The Oath was pushing me to protect you, but there was nothing I could do.” 

“I’m okay.” Draco responded as they made it to Harry’s room. 

As soon as the door shut behind them Draco was pulling Harry into a desperate kiss. He ignored the exclamation of surprise that escaped from his mouth and leaned into the solid line of Draco’s body.

“I want to forget.” Draco gasped against Harry’s mouth, “Help me forget, just for a little while.”

“You’re not in the right frame of mind Draco.” Harry tried to protest.

“We don’t need to have sex,” Draco said as his mouth fell to Harry’s neck, “Just give me something - anything - else to think about.”

“Okay,” Harry placated, as he took Draco’s hands from around his neck and walked him backwards towards the bed. Once they were standing next to his mattress Harry looked down into Draco’s grey eyes and leaned down slowly, giving Draco ample time to push him away if he wanted. Harry’s mouth slotted easily over Draco’s. They fell into the familiar pattern of lips, teeth and tongue. With Draco licking into Harry’s mouth desperately, and then pulling away to catch Harry’ bottom lip between his teeth. And Harry missed this. Missed the way Draco dug his fingers into his waist. The way he whimpered with delight when Harry cupped the back of his neck to keep their mouths anchored together. The arch of his neck. The hard lines of his back. The flick of his devilish tongue against Harry’s.

“Fuck I missed you.” Harry whispered breathlessly. 

Draco climbed onto the bed and sprawled out on his back. His grey eyes were watching Harry closely, silently inviting the Gryffindor to join him.  _ Begging _ Harry to join him. Harry kicked off his trainers and knelt on the bed over Draco. He urged Draco’s legs further apart so he could slide his knee up against the blonde's groin. Draco welcomed his touch, his legs falling open invitingly at Harry’s nudge.

“Missed you too.” Draco fisted his hands in Harry's shirt and tried to pull him down, he wanted Harry to press him into the mattress, to cover his body with his own. But Harry was stalling. He was on his knees, staring down at Draco, one leg pressed firmly against Draco’s cock, the other straddling his thigh. He rocked his leg up experimentally and Draco hissed through his teeth. A second rock had Draco’s hands flying to grip at Harry’s thighs, but his hands slapped against the denim uselessly. Harry’s jeans were too tight for Draco to do any more than scrabble against the fabric with his fingernails.

“Harry,” Draco gasped, “Please!” 

“I’ve got you Darling.” Harry whispered reverently. He nudged Draco’s thighs even further apart and moved to kneel between them properly. He slid his hands up Draco’s chest, pushing the borrowed shirt up and over his head. Harry’s mouth practically watered at the pale skin on display beneath him. He leaned down and gave one of Draco’s nipples a gentle bite, while his fingers rubbed and pinched at the opposite side.

“Harry, Harry, Harry…” A breathy litany of his name escaped Draco’s mouth as Harry worked his way up from Draco’s chest. He licked, bit and kissed each inch of skin that he came across. Leaving a trail of love bites and stubble burned skin in his wake. Harry marvelled over the softness of Draco’s skin. And he began to hear the things that he never realised were coming out of his mouth.

“You’re beautiful Draco. Your skin looks so good all marked up. You’re so fucking glorious. I love you like this. I love your neck. I love your hair. I love how blonde it is. I love that I finally have you under me. I love that noise you make…” 

Harry was panting words into Draco’s skin, against his neck and his jaw. And then finally,  _ finally, _ against his mouth. 

“Yessss.” Draco breathed out, as the Gryffindor sank into the kiss. Draco cupped Harry’s face and kept him in place. His tongue flicked up against Harry’s and Harry's hips thrusted forward in response.

“Do that again.” Draco panted before sliding his tongue back into Harry’s open mouth. Harry snapped his hips down again and Draco's cry fell on deaf ears. Draco pushed Harry's shirt up, uncovering skin and muscles. Harry sat back on his ankles so he could pull his shirt over his head before returning to sink his teeth into Draco's bottom lip.

Draco slid his hands up and down Harry's chest. His fingers dipped into the ridge of each muscle with long slow strokes. They hadn't had much of a chance to get to look at each other's bodies, most of their encounters had been quick kisses in dark places, and this was the first time Draco was able to properly take Harry in. He instantly noted the deep summer tan that Harry had been sporting the first time they'd kissed had faded to something a little more normal for English winter time. His muscles had lost some of that hard definition that Draco remembered sneaking a glance of when they'd first kissed. Draco now knew that Harry was only as tanned and fit as he was because his relative's habitually worked him like a workhorse over the summer months. 

Draco put the thought quickly out of his mind, unwilling to allow those Muggles to get to him, especially not at a time like this. He brought himself back to the present to find his own fingers absentmindedly running up and down the dark trail of hair that led him from Harry's navel down to the fastening of his jeans. Harry's face was buried in his neck, pressing kisses to the flush that had crept up towards his face. He was waiting for Draco to make the next move. Letting the blonde lead so he wasn't pushing him for more than he could give in his current emotional state.

On the next downward sweep of his fingers, Draco's thumb found the button on Harry jeans and flicked it open, he looked into Harry's green eyes as he tugged the zip down. Without second guessing himself he plunged his hand into Harry's underwear and took his cock in the palm of his hand. Harry's eyes rolled back before fluttering closed and he hissed a strangled, "Fuck Draco". Draco's fingers closed around him and he moved his hand up and down slowly. Memorising each gasp that escaped from Harry's mouth with every move he made. He thumbed the head, dragging the pad of his thumb across the tip gently. Harry's arms were bracketing Draco's head. His mouth hovered somewhere near Draco's left ear. So the long groan and another whispered "fuck" didn't go unnoticed.

"Touch me?" Draco asked.

"Yeah. Yes. Okay." Harry shifted, he sat up on his knees disturbing Draco's tentative grip. He tugged the Slytherin's trousers open enough to free Draco's own erection.

"Harry, please." Draco begged, his hips moving on their own accord, pressing up into Harry's palm with smooth circular movements.

"I've got you."

"Not gonna last." Harry twisted his wrist slightly on each upstroke and Draco’s strangled groan spoke volumes.

"You taught me that one." Harry murmured with a self-satisfied smile.

"And I'm so glad I did." He groaned in reply, "Come on, faster please." 

Harry's hand sped up. He was using the most perfect combination of grip and speed to make Draco gasp and cry out beneath him. 

"Close, so close." Draco panted, "Come down here." He was reaching for Harry, pushing those jeans down just enough for the heavy weight of Harry’s cock to fall out of the opening. It took only a few more pumps and a twist of his wrist and Draco was crying out in pleasure and coating Harry's fist and his own stomach in cum. 

"Beautiful," Harry dropped back down onto his elbows, bracketing Draco’s head with his arms, "Do you mind if I…" he shifted his weight onto one arm and moved down to grip himself but Draco batted his hands away. He replaced Harry's hand with his own. Stroking and tugging at Harry's hardness with a practiced hand until Harry was muttering swear words in his ear, his balls pulled tight and he was releasing between them. His own load added to the mess on Draco's stomach.

"Merlin fuck." Harry tipped himself over to one side, collapsing next to Draco and pinning his legs down with his body. Draco patted his leg in agreement and let his eyes drift close.

“Don’t let me fall asleep,” He poked Harry in the side but his eyes were closing almost against his will, “I need to shower. We both do.” Harry grumbled out a response but dragged himself up lethargically. He used his shirt to wipe off the worst of the mess from Draco’s stomach and tugged the grey trousers back up his slender hips. Draco allowed Harry to drag him to his feet and accepted a quick kiss, but pushed him away before he could do much else.

“You’re not laying another finger on me until we’ve both had a shower.” Harry laughed and dragged him out of his room and down the hall to the bathroom.


	14. Chapter 14

The next day saw Draco sticking as close to Harry as humanly possible. He followed him down to breakfast and sat next to him with nothing more than a cup of tea and a two slices of toast in front of him, while Harry happily put away a few slices of bacon and a couple of sausages. After the past few days Draco wasn’t sure if he had it in him to eat much at the moment. There was still a persistent knot of worry in his stomach over the well being of his Mother. So when he was offered the platter of breakfast items he thanked the Weasley Matriarch, but declined politely and shrugged off Harry’s questioning gaze.

Draco sat next to him while they were in the living room, they had claimed the low and old settee as their own and they were settled in companionable silence. Both of them had books resting on their knees and were flipping through the pages with one hand, while their other hands were clasped together in the empty space between them. Draco knew he was being unusually clingy but Harry wasn’t questioning it and until Harry objected, Draco was quite happy to let it continue. The few times when someone else had walked in the room, Draco’s fingers had tightened around Harry’s, almost to the point of pain, but Harry just held on. No one said a word to him but he saw the look in some of their eyes. They wanted to know what he was doing there. They didn’t think he deserved Harry. He agreed.

He felt outnumbered, the only Slytherin in a house full of Gryffindors. He tried to keep his quips to himself, swallowing any mention of blood purity and their differences in wealth, most of these people had accepted him so easily and it was only fair that he should try to do the same. On the off chance that a scathing retort did slip from the tip of his tongue Harry was beside him tugging on a lock of his hair as a gentle reminder to keep himself in check. He owed them that much. He owed Harry that much. Thankfully the few times he had let his tongue slip had been to either Ron or one of the twins, and all three of them were able to wave it away or laugh it off, so he hadn’t offended anyone too deeply.

The list of missing people from Dumbledore came through in the late afternoon the day after Draco’s arrival. It was long. Beside each name was a photo. The missing Wizards and Muggle-borns had been recorded on a long scroll of paper, the muggle names (fewer but still a significant amount) had been printed from a muggle computer, photos had been included next to the names. Harry had told him they were of Muggle driving licences and passports, and Draco had a ton of questions about that alone, (he had settled with the quick explanation of, driving licences mean people can drive cars and passports mean they can leave the country) but he vowed to ask more on the subject later. Draco had taken the list solemnly and sat himself down at the dining table with a quill in his hand and determination in his eyes.

“You don’t need to do this right now.” Harry had said, when Draco spent five minutes staring at the first name blankly.

“I do.” 

Draco looked up at Harry with sad eyes. And Harry understood immediately. He had to because no one else would. No one else could. He had to because these families deserved to know what had happened to their loved ones.

Draco looked through the pages and marked off the names and faces that he recognised, underlined Surnames that he remembered over hearing when the Death Eaters had returned from raids. He looked through it once, and then a second time, and a third. Just to double check, triple check, that he hadn’t missed anyone. He stopped himself from counting the number of people he had marked against. It had hardly made a dent in the list but he knew it was still a lot. 

Harry had made him a cup of tea when he flipped back to the front page the first time. 

The second time, he slid a plate of biscuits under Draco’s nose. 

The third time he left a bar of Honeydukes chocolate next to his elbow. 

He didn’t speak, and didn’t try to distract Draco from his task. He simply sat next to him, reading through  _ Practical Defensive Magic,  _ greeting anyone who came into the room with a nod and a subdued greeting. Draco was thankful for the support, he didn’t realise how much he needed it until Harry stood up to have a quiet conversation with Sirius in the kitchen doorway, and Draco had to stamp down the spark of worry that Harry was about to leave him alone in the room. They sat there together for three hours before Draco put the quill down slowly and carefully, and pushed the papers away from him.

“You’ve done really well Draco,” Harry said softly from his side, trying to console him, “You’ll be giving a lot of families the closure that they wouldn’t otherwise have.”

“I’m going to be ruining peoples lives.” Draco said, trying to keep all emotion out of his voice, he knew that if he was to spare his emotions a single thought he wouldn’t be able to keep his composure.

“Their lives have already been ruined, but not by you. This way they can move on.” Harry stood behind Draco and rested his hands on the blonde's shoulders, “You’ve done a good thing. This isn’t on you.” He kissed the crown of Draco’s head gently.

“Then why do I feel like it is?” Harry couldn’t answer, he felt the same way whenever he opened the newspaper to another shop destroyed in Diagon Alley, or another family completely disappearing without a trace.

“I think that’s just my hero complex rubbing off on you I’m afraid.” Harry squeezed his shoulders gently.

“God forbid.” Harry had let out a low chuckle and kissed the crown of Draco’s head again.

Harry took his hand, and led him upstairs. They left the papers on the dining table, any Order member passing by would pick them up and pass them on to whoever was in charge of such things. But for now, Harry was too busy pressing Draco up against the bedroom door to give a shit. And Draco was too busy gasping against Harry’s mouth to question it.

The evening arrived and they found themselves lounging in the living room. Draco sat at one end of the settee, he had a Potions book in one hand and his other hand was carding through Harry’s hair. The Gryffindor was laid across the rest of the couch. His head was in Draco’s lap and his legs dangled off the other end, he was far too tall to fit on the settee comfortably. He had his eyes closed, enjoying the way Draco’s long adept fingers were massaging his skull. His nightmares were leaving him with a low but constant headache. Now that the ache in his chest was gone he could finally feel the dull thud against his temple, it had probably been there for the last week, but Draco’s long term panic had overwhelmed everything else. 

Sirius entered the room and regarded the couple with calculating eyes. Harry had long since dozed off, but Draco continued to rub his hands through his black nest of hair. Doing the only thing he could to help soothe Harry’s headache.

“Harry’s told me that you could be disinherited.” Sirius finally commented after a minute of watching them together.

“I’m not sure what my Father is planning. It’s possible.” Draco replied carefully.

“Will he remove your right to the Malfoy name?”

“To legally disinherit me then he must.”

“Harry has already offered it to you, but I want it to come from me too. You are welcome to the Black family name and all it entails. You are my cousin after all and have as much right to it as anyone. Harry is named as Heir in my Will, but he is happy to pass it over to you if it comes to that.”

“Thank you,” Draco said and Sirius nodded and shrugged one shoulder offhandedly, “Truly, thank you.” Sirius walked over and clapped him on the shoulder. He looked down at Harry’s face, which even in sleep was twisted into a pained grimace.

“I’m not happy about this Oath, but I understand that it was an accident, and where Harry is concerned I’ve learnt not to be too surprised about any accidental magic. Did you know he inflated his Muggle Aunt and she floated from Surrey up to Sheffield?” Draco snorted, “You’re good for him. I think you might actually be able to stop him from rushing blindly into danger.”

“I doubt it.” Draco scoffed.

“Well, at the very least you’ll be able to make him second guess himself before he does rush off.”

“I’ll try.” Sirius smiled at him and nodded before leaving the room.

“I heard all that.” Harry said as he opened one eye to look up at Draco.

“Hush Gryffindor, go back to sleep. Or we could get you up to bed, I’m sure it’s infinitely more comfortable.” Draco suggested, shifting in discomfort.

“Nah, comfy.” Draco poked him in the shoulder until Harry was on his feet, complaining all the way. He pressed a hand to the space between Harry’s shoulder blades and pushed him along the various hallways and up the multiple flights of stairs until they were inside his bedroom.

“Now you can collapse.” Harry stumbled sleepily onto his bed and buried himself quickly under the heavy duvet. Draco climbed onto the bed next to him, he sat back against the headboard and crossed his ankles. He had every intention to pick up the book that he had discarded to one side last night, but he found himself staring down at Harry.

His hair was a mess. Just a nest of soft strands that refused to be tamed by brush or potion (Draco had tried both methods when they had finished in the shower the day before). His brow was furrowed, the weight of his nightmares and the threat of Voldemort hanging over his head meant that he was carrying worry everywhere with him, even into his sleep. Draco had a sudden urge to dispel his worry, but all he could do for now was smooth down the wrinkles on his forehead with a gentle thumb. As he did so, he marvelled at the way Harry’s dark lashes fluttered against his cheeks, Draco had spent long enough watching Pansy primp herself to know that long lashes were the envy of all girls everywhere. He distinctly remembered Pansy telling him as such, as she brushed minuscule amounts of hair thickening potion through her eyelashes, amidst Draco’s warnings that it probably wasn’t the safest thing to do. It hadn’t been, she had come to him an hour later begging him for an antidote when her eyelids were so weighed down with extra eyelashes that she couldn’t even open her eyes (Draco had been quick to comment that it looked like two furry caterpillars had crawled onto her eyes and died).

Once Draco’s hand was against Harry’s skin, he found that he wasn’t willing to pull away so quickly. His gaze fell to the bridge of Harry’s nose and the straight line from his forehead down to the tip of his nose. His thumb followed the path of his gaze, falling even further down Harry's face to trace the curve of his red lips. Everything about Harry was wonderful. And Draco loved him. So much. 

“Stop it Draco.” Harry murmured, “Tickles.” Draco chuckled and pressed a kiss to Harry’s forehead before pulling away and finally picking up the book from the bedside table. He watched Harry for a few more seconds, before smiling a silly little smile to himself and opening the tome.


	15. Chapter 15

Dumbledore returned two days after Draco’s arrival as promised. He ushered Harry and Draco into the sitting room where Snape was standing in one corner, Sirius in the other, glaring at each other so hard that Harry was surprised one of them wasn’t actually on fire from the intensity. Draco’s lips pursed and he eyed Snape in distrust. He had seen so many horrible things while in the Manor, and Snape featured in more than one of his memories. Dumbledore motioned for Draco to take a seat in the single chair that had been conjured in the centre of the room. Harry sat to the side, in front of Sirius, in a deep and high backed, arm chair.

“We are about to give you a dose of Veritaserum, Professor Snape and Sirius are here to chaperone and witness. Do I have your permission?” Dumbledore asked.

Draco nodded against his better judgement, eyeing the small vial in Dumbledore’s hand in displeasure. He didn’t trust Dumbledore too much, but Harry did, and at this moment in time he really would do anything that Harry asked of him.

“I’m sorry Mr Malfoy, I do need a verbal response.”

“Yes. You have my permission.” He took the vial from the Headmaster and knocked it back, not wanting to stop to think about it too much.

Harry’s hands fisted in the arms of the armchair when Draco slumped slightly and his eyes glazed over as the potion began to flood his system. Sirius stood next to him and clapped a hand onto his shoulder in silent support.

“Your name please.”

“Draco Lucius Malfoy.”

“What are your feelings towards Lord Voldemort?” 

“I hate him, he’s disgusting, an abomination.” Draco replied. Harry squeezed his eyes closed at the emotionless response, the Veritaserum stripping away the emotion until nothing but the plain truth remained.

“What are your thoughts and feelings towards muggle-born Witches and Wizards?”

“I think that they should have to take a class on the Wizarding Worlds laws and customs on first admission into Hogwarts. There are generations of Witches and Wizards who know nothing about the world they live in. But I do not hate them and they do not deserve to die.”

“What are your feelings towards Muggles?”

“I have no feelings towards Muggles.”

“How do you feel about the current war?”

“It’s an unnecessary waste of life.”

“From the list of names you have given me, to the best of your knowledge have you identified everyone you saw at Malfoy Manor?”

“Yes.”

“How do you feel about Harry Potter?” Harry tried to stand and object but Sirius’s hand clamped down hard to keep him seated, so he just glared at the Headmaster instead.

“I’m in love with him.” Harry’s eyes drifted closed once again, this was the second time Draco had said it without truly realising it and Harry wished, just once, that Draco could say it on his own terms.

“Do you wish Harry Potter harm?”

“No.”

“Did you trick Harry Potter into a binding Oath?” Harry tried to object once again but Sirius shook his head at him. He seethed silently and gripped the arms of the chair hard enough to almost rip the frail upholstery.

“No.”

“Have you tricked Harry Potter into being in a relationship with you?”

“No.”

“Albus, I think the nature of their relationship has been established.” Sirius said from Harry’s side, in an attempt to dissuade him from his current line of questioning.

“Do you intend to share any information about Harry Potter to Lord Voldemort or his followers?”

“No.”

“Do you intend to share any information about the Order of the Phoenix to Lord Voldemort or his followers?”

“No.”

“Albus, I believe all pertinent questions have been asked.” Snape approached from the corner.

“Just one more. Mr Malfoy, where do your loyalties lie?”

“My loyalty is to Harry Potter.” Dumbledore nodded in satisfaction at his final answer.

“Severus, please administer the antidote.” Snape coaxed Draco’s mouth open and poured the second potion down his throat.

It took a few seconds for Draco to come back to himself, and when he did his fingers tightened on the spindly arms of the wooden chair half panicked at what he had been forced to say. He looked over at Harry, who was still being restrained by Sirius, and flushed deeply. 

“Thank you Mr Malfoy.” Harry finally pushed Sirius’s hand off his shoulder and practically flew over to Draco. He situated himself between Draco’s legs and cradled his head against his stomach. He wiped the sprinkle of perspiration away from Draco’s forehead with his palms and kissed Draco on the head tenderly.

“You did great, Darling.” Harry said. Draco’s hands fisted in his shirt at either side of his waist and he breathed deeply and slowly, matching his breaths to the movements of Harry’s chest.

“We just need the Oath now Mr Malfoy.”

“Yes, okay.” He pulled away from Harry and looked up and Dumbledore with wide grey eyes, “Am I able to make the Oath with Harry?”

"I have considered your unique situation. You both say that your magics are acting unusually around each other. Given that we cannot guarantee the outcome I think it's best that you make the usual Oath with myself and once we are more aware of the reason behind the anomaly you may make any Oath to Harry that you wish. It is simply not advisable at this time."

"Right, okay." But Draco was frowning and not at all thrilled at having to bind some part of himself to Dumbledore.

"If you would stand in front of me Mr Malfoy." Dumbledore pulled out his own wand from his sleeve and then from a pocket deep inside his robes he produced Draco’s. Draco took it with his right hand and sighed in relief as his fingers closed around the familiar wooden handle.

"Cross your wand over mine." Dumbledore held his wand out horizontally in front of him and Draco rested his wand over the top until they formed a cross in between them.

"Do you Draco Malfoy, solemnly swear to uphold all the secrets of the Order of the Phoenix, including the location and the members within?"

"I swear it." The tip of Draco's wand glowed briefly and he felt the weight of the oath settle around his core.

"Do you Draco Malfoy, solemnly swear to rescind any allegiance to Lord Voldemort?"

"I swear it." His wand tip glowed again, and yet another band fell into place around his core. He felt like it was containing his magic, preventing him from acting against the oath. He could see now how untamed and dangerous his Oath with Harry was, there were no specific parameters to it, there were no magical binds forcing either of them to follow the words of the Oath. Their magics could pick and choose to obey in any way they saw fit. 

"Thank you Mr Malfoy for agreeing to those terms. You may of course keep your wand. I shall be taking my leave. Harry, if you could stay with Professor Snape for a moment." And with that Dumbledore left the room. Draco had to stop himself from clutching his wand to his chest and jumping up and down with glee, he never realised how much he relied on his wand before. His parents had taken the Ministry's age detection wards off him and he had been using his wand freely since the moment he had received it. It was a part of him. Being without it had felt like a small part of him had been missing.

"Malfoy, you may stay too. You might actually be able to help." Snape turned to Harry with a sneer, "When you return to Hogwarts you will be attending Occlumency lessons. Occlumency will protect your mind against the Dark Lord and prevent him from gaining access." Harry just nodded glumly, he was well aware of how important it was but he wasn’t looking forward to the extra one-on-one sessions with one of his most hated Professors, "Malfoy, you are sufficient in Occlumency, are you not?"

"Yes sir."

"Work on it with Potter. I believe he will have a great need for the extra tutelage. Good day to you both." And Snape whirled his cloak around and left the room. He sneered to Sirius on his way past but didn't say a word, which Harry was grateful for. He didn’t much feel like fielding an argument full of twenty years of pent up aggression.

"I really hate that guy." Sirius said, a few minutes after Snape had left the room.

"He's a Death Eater, and he will always be a Death Eater to me. The things I've seen …" Draco trailed off, trying not to allow the memories to surface. Harry cupped Draco's chin in one hand. He barely hesitated between tilting Draco's chin up, to make up the two inches of height difference, and pressing his mouth firmly to the lips in front of him.

"You did really well." Harry said, once he had pulled away, but only far enough to speak, "I'm proud of you." Harry stared down into Draco's eyes for a long couple of seconds before he pulled away to look at Sirius.

"Were all those normal questions? They seemed to be very focused on our relationship." Draco asked.

"There's usually a couple questions about personal relationships but he did kind of go a bit hard on you there about your connection to Harry."

"I didn't like feeling that way." Draco admitted, "It was like something was forcing me to speak. I didn't like it at all." Harry pressed a kiss to his temple and excused them both from the sitting room. Sirius just waved them away and left the room himself to go find Remus.

"Let's go up to our room for a bit before dinner. De-stress a bit." Harry said.

"Use protection!" Sirius cackled after them.

"Fuck off Sirius!" Harry replied from the bottom of the stairs. The portrait of Sirius's mother began to wail and scream about Mudbloods in the most Ancient and Noble House of Black and Harry sniggered as he grabbed Draco's wrist and dragged him up the stairs behind him. Leaving Sirius to deal with the portrait.

They were laughing as they made it to Harry's room. Harry slammed the door shut behind them and locked it so Sirius couldn't follow them in. 

"He deserved that."

"I love you." Draco blurted out suddenly. Harry slowly turned to look him in the eyes. "I know that I said it back there while under Veritaserum. So I know it's not really much a surprise for you. But I wanted you to know that I wasn't afraid of saying it."

"That wasn't the first time you said it to me Draco," Harry explained as he leaned forward to cup a hand around the back of Draco's neck and his voice dropped to a low growl, "The first time you told me to cum for you. Do you remember?" The first night they had watched each other through the mirrors. Harry shivered at the memory.

"I remember." Draco was blushing now, the hue was a soft dusting of pink across his pale cheeks and down the length of his neck.

"Before you fell asleep, you said I love you."

"You can't count that-"

"I can and I will. I would rather remember that as the first time you told me you loved me, than the memory of you being in an interrogation under the influence of a truth serum."

"I-" Draco realised that Harry had a point, "Yes, okay."

"I said I loved you too by the way." Harry admitted, and Draco grinned.

“Of course you did. I’m a delight.” Harry just laughed.


	16. Chapter 16

Hermione’s arrival back at Grimmauld Place brought with it another flurry of excitement. It signified that the Christmas break was coming to an end, and all the Hogwarts students in the house started to collect their things for the start of the new term. The books that had been left in haphazard piles around the sitting room were once again stashed in trunks. Half finished essays on rolls of parchment were collected up, along with bottles of ink and quills. Mrs Weasley was rushing around the house collecting piles of washing, and dropping off clean stacks of Hogwarts robes to various bedrooms. It had shocked Harry one evening when she had cast a spell to find all the odd socks left in the house, and a smelly orange and blue spotted sock flew past his nose and down the stairs to land in the wash basket. The most touching moment for Harry, had been when she knocked politely on Harry’s bedroom door and deposited a freshly pressed Slytherin uniform into Draco’s arms. Draco had blushed _(which he would definitely deny_ ) and stammered (“ _Malfoy’s don’t stammer, Potter!”_ ) a thanks. Mrs Weasley had waved him off, commenting that she was finally glad for the break in the endless Gryffindor uniforms and that she’d never noticed just how nice the shade of Slytherin green really was. She had smiled kindly and turned from the room, leaving a speechless Draco standing in front of the closed door and a widely grinning Harry sat at the desk.

“I think they’re starting to like you.” Harry said.

“I’ve told you Potter, I’m a delight.”

“You are when you’re not being a total prick.” Harry laughed off the slight stinging hex that lacked any power behind it whatsoever. Coming off as more of a tickle than anything.

“Harry!” Hermione burst into the room and knocked into Draco who was still standing almost completely in front of the door, his robes were still slung over one arm and he was still pointing his wand at Harry, “Sorry Draco, what are you doing?” 

“Trying to see if I’ll get away with turning his hair green.”

“Hmm, Probably not.”

Hermione had taken the news of Draco’s arrival at Grimmauld with all the grace and poise that Harry had expected. And by that, he meant that she had almost burst into tears at the news, and had collapsed onto Draco’s shoulder with wet eyes and a runny nose, all the while telling him that she was so glad he had managed to escape unharmed. She had been particularly concerned at Harry’s description of how the Oath had affected him, and had turned immediately to the Black library. It was tucked away in a room that was definitely too small to contain such a large collection (the house in general was definitely bigger on the inside, the outer appearance showing nothing more than a regular three storey house but internally there were at least 4, maybe even 5, floors and various hidden hallways and expanded bedrooms). 

“I can’t believe you haven’t been trying to figure this out for the past two weeks Harry. School starts again in two days.” She had admonished as she began to pull various books down from the shelves. With Sirius’s permission she had packed some away so she could study them properly once they’d reached Hogwarts.

“Have you both been trying to figure out your connection?” She asked them as she stood in the doorway, looking over at Harry who had stood up from the desk on her arrival into his bedroom.

“We haven’t really erm -” Harry started.

“That’s a no then. Honestly boys, how do you expect to cope once we get back to school?” She asked as she settled herself on their bed.

“Who’s going to be attacking Draco at school?”

“Harry,” Her tone was stern, and the eye-roll was heavily implied even if she never actually did it, “Draco has just completely denounced You-Know-Who, and now his name is probably right under yours on the list of people he wants to kill. Do you think all the Death Eater children are just going to leave him alone? Not to mention any lesson where there’s a wand pointing at him, it's going to be difficult for your Oath to comprehend that he’s not actually under attack.”

“Fuck.” Draco paled dramatically. He dropped his robes carefully over his trunk and sat down on the bed heavily, “I-I didn’t think about that. Hogwarts isn’t safe for me at all. There’s no way I can go back there.”

“Draco, everything’s going to be alright.” Harry tried to calm him down, He had pushed himself out of the chair and was standing in front of him, his arms crossed and his expression determined.

“How do you know?” Draco half sneered, not really able to use his normal cutting tone on Harry but still trying nevertheless.

“Because everyone who wants to get rid of you also wants to get rid of me and they’ve not managed to off me just yet.” Harry explained.

“Barely.” Draco replied, “And not for a lack of trying.”

“So you join the DA.” Hermione suggested.

“Right,” He scoffed, “All those Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws are just going to open their arms and welcome a Slytherin into the group are they? Pretty sure I’d get a hex to the back the minute I turned around.”

“They’d accept you if you came out as Harry’s boyfriend.” She shrugged, as though it was that easy.

“We can’t just do that.” Harry looked at Draco in bewilderment, “Can we?”

“It might offer Draco a bit of extra protection. I don’t know if you’ve noticed Harry, but your name does hold a significant amount of weight behind it.” Hermione pointed out.

“I don’t know, Granger.” Draco said simply, “That could just be slapping an even bigger target on both of our backs.”

“Think about it, won’t you?” The two boys nodded and she left the room with a flip of her curly hair.

“We haven’t talked about that.” Harry sat down in Hermione's vacated spot next to Draco.

In fact, they hadn’t talked about much of anything. Any time spent in the bedroom they were either equally absorbed in books or they were busy mapping out each other's bodies, filing away important information like ticklish spots and erogenous zones. Harry blushed deeply at the memory of Draco’s pink lips sinking down his cock and his tongue pressing flush against the base before pulling off with a pop and a cheeky smirk. Another one of his many talents.

“How do you feel about it?” Harry continued when it didn’t look like Draco was going to offer his opinion freely.

“I might need to send out a couple of owls first, can I use Hedwig?” 

“Yes of course. Who do you need to write to?”

“Pansy, and perhaps Blaise. I don’t know if they will be loyal enough to me to follow me over, but we have been close friends for most of our lives and they deserve to know certain things before I start parading around the school like some kind of Gryffindor.”

“Write to them now if you want, you’ll have a reply by the time we get to Hogwarts.” Draco nodded and settled in the desk chair, “I’ll leave you to it. I’ll be down in the kitchen.” He kissed Draco on the forehead and left the room to make his way downstairs.

“Ah, Harry, I was just about to go find you.” He practically walked into Sirius who was trying to leave the kitchen at the same time as Harry was entering, “I thought I would give you this,” He led Harry to the table with an arm around his shoulders, “Your Dad and I used to use it over the holidays. I know you and Malfoy have one but this one connects to mine.” He handed Harry a mirror. Slightly bigger and significantly older than the one he and Draco were using but fairly similar otherwise, “Use it whenever you want, I’ll always answer.”

“Thank you Sirius.” Harry held his tears back and pulled Sirius into a back-thumping hug.

“And I wanted to talk to you about the rest of your school year.”

“What?” Sirius sat down on one side of the table, and motioned for Harry to take the seat opposite him. He looked at Harry for a few seconds, he looked serious and Harry leaned forward over the table, suddenly very interested in what he wanted to say.

“Don’t rush into anything blindly," Sirius began, "The war is starting to heat up and everything is going to come to a peak eventually. Keep yourself and Draco safe.” Sirius looked at him again, somberly, “Draco has sacrificed his own Mother to fight by your side-” He held his hand up to stop Harry’s response, “I know it wasn’t supposed to go that far, and I know it was never your intention to ask him to do such a thing. But he did. For you.”

“To be away from Voldemort.” Harry corrected.

“Do you think he would have even attempted to escape from under Voldemort if he didn’t have you to escape to.” Harry had no reply, “Exactly. Just take care of yourself and prove to him that it was the right choice. He certainly thought you were.” Sirius patted him on the shoulder and left him sitting at the dining table by himself.

He stared down into the mirror. It was chipped slightly around the sides and the edges were cloudy with age. He met his own reflection head on. Draco had been working on his hair daily and it almost sat on the edge of ‘intentional messy’ (much to Draco’s displeasure that it still wouldn’t be tamed). His green eyes shined from behind his usual round framed glasses. His summer tan was long gone (also to Draco’s displeasure, he had admitted while he was sliding his tongue down Harry’s abs), and the bags that had collected under his eyes from maintaining a shitty sleep pattern since his dreams had started, had vanished from a solid week of good sleep wrapped around his boyfriend (or with Draco wrapped around him, another flash of long fingers and pink kiss swollen lips). 

He was Harry. Just Harry. And yet, Draco  _ had  _ left everything behind for him. He didn’t think he was much different from the previous four years of schooling. He hadn’t stopped to think why Draco was suddenly attracted to him. He was taller than the end of Fourth year he guessed, having hit one last growth spurt during the summer. He had worked harder than ever in the Dursleys garden, (trying to chase away the memory of Cedric’s lifeless eyes looking up at him from the graveyard floor), so he had developed some muscle that wasn’t there before. And the second of half of the summer that he’d spent in Grimmauld with Sirius had been a wake-up call for his fashion sense and he’d been encouraged to owl order a whole new wardrobe, casting off Dudley’s hand-me-downs for good, so his clothes had certainly improved dramatically.

“All done.” Draco appearing next to his elbow made him jump and drop the mirror flat on the table.

“How long have you been staring at yourself? And you keep saying that  _ you’re _ rubbing off on  _ me _ .” Draco teased.

“I think I was just trying to work out why?”

“Why what?” Draco took a seat next to him.

“Why you want me?” Draco looked at him as though he’d grown another head, “I’m serious.”

“Because you’re... you, you’re just …Harry Potter.” 

“You’re with me because I’m Harry Potter?” His forehead creased as anger and betrayal surfaced, “Of all people-”

“No, that’s not what I meant.” Draco quickly placated, “Not because you’re Harry  _ Potter _ . I meant because you’re  _ Harry.”  _ Draco pushed Harry’s chair back so he could perch on the table in front of him and take his face between his hands, “Brilliant, honest, bull-headed, courageous, powerful, Gryffindor, Harry.” He leaned forward and pressed his lips against Harry’s for a chaste but lingering kiss. He was leaning forward awkwardly, hanging between his perch on the table and Harry’s face, “I love you because you are you. It just took me a little while to figure it out.” 

Harry scooted his chair closer and dragged Draco down onto his lap. His hands rested on Draco's lower back and his legs straddled Harry and the chair, as they traded kisses leisurely.

“Where did that question come from anyway?”

“Sirius had me thinking about some stuff. And I realised I never asked you why you suddenly decided that I was worth your time.”

“I believe it had something to do with a broom shed and a particularly fantastic snog. Why did you want me?”

“Oh you know, broom shed, nice snog. I’m a simple guy, easy to make me fall for you really. Just needed to flash your eyes at me and wow me with your brilliant flying skills and I was already pretty far gone.” Harry laughed cheekily, but quickly sobered enough to say, “I think I always wanted you, maybe I just needed you to respond enough to make it a reality.” Draco kissed him again, his hands cupping Harry’s jaw almost reverently.

Draco leaned back, his eyes locked so intensely with Harry’s and said, “Let’s have sex.” Which, Harry wouldn’t say out loud for fear of being maimed, was such a Gryffindor thing to say.

“Oh fuck, yes, please.” Draco laughed before climbing to his feet. Harry followed him as though he was in a trance. Rising to his feet and almost tripping over the chair in the process. 

Draco laughed again.

Harry had never heard anything so enchanting. 

He caught the blonde around the waist as they reached the kitchen door and pressed a kiss to his mouth. He grabbed his wrist and dragged him up to the first floor, they tripped over each other's feet as they silently snuck passed the painting of Sirius’s mother and choked back their laughter until they’d made it to the landing. Where Draco pressed Harry against the bannister and pressed his tongue into the Gryffindor’s mouth, kissing him until his back ached from being pressed against the wood. Harry pulled back with another laugh and he snagged the collar of Draco’s shirt and pulled him up to the next set of stairs to the second floor. This time it was Draco who was being pressed up against a random closet door. He practically cackled with laughter as Harry attached his mouth to his neck and chewed an impressive love bite to the space under his jaw. Draco pushed him back again before catching his breath. Panting from the almost hysterical laughter that they were sharing, and the way they were running up flights of stairs.

“Catch me, Potter.” He whispered against Harry’s mouth, and let out another belt of laughter as he scarpered up the next set of stairs and to Harry’s bedroom door. Harry’s hands slammed against the door at either side of his head and he collected his prize in the form of a particularly toe-curling open mouthed kiss.

“Inside the bedroom please boys.” Remus tutted as he passed them without giving them a second glance, “With silencing spells if you would.”

Harry barked a laugh against Draco’s cheek and fumbled for the door handle. They fell into the room with arms around each other, and feet and legs tangled together. They stumbled towards the bed. Once there Harry dropped Draco onto the mattress, Draco fell with an offt but he was soon spreading his limbs out and rocking his hips up to Harry invitingly. Harry grabbed his wand and shot a silencing spell at the door before sliding his body down over Draco’s.

“You want this?” He asked, as he trailed his fingers down Draco’s arm to clutch at his pale fingers, pinning his hand against the covers of the bed.

“I want-” Draco gasped as his magic reared up in response to the burning fire of Harry’s magic against his skin, “Everything.”

“It would be my pleasure.” Harry’s tone was teasing, but his eyes were sincere and promising.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Spoiler alert*  
> Warning for scenes of a sexual nature  
> All porn, no plot. Literally, wall to wall porn.

He took his time undressing Draco. His hands teased a slow and sensual pattern against his pale stomach before he tugged at the offending shirt. His mouth followed the ascending path of the hem as he pushed it up and over Draco’s head. Ending his journey at Draco’s mouth, where he coaxed the Slytherin into another toe-curling, breath-taking, life-changing kiss. Draco’s hands were firm against the back of Harry’s neck, cradling Harry’s head and urging the Gryffindor on. Their hips moved against each other enthusiastically, pressing up into the responding hardness in each other's trousers.

“Off.” Draco commanded as he tugged at the button and zip of Harry’s jeans, “I want these off.” He said against Harry’s mouth, where he was trying not to slip into another deep kiss. Harry stood up and tried to kick off his jeans and underwear as quickly as possible, but only succeeding in almost tripping over his own feet. Draco just laughed at his struggles and shimmied out of his own trousers easily. Harry’s mouth watered at the erotic way Draco shifted his body. It was such a simple motion, but Harry thought it should be illegal to be that naturally erotic.

“What do you want?” Harry asked as he climbed back up on the bed between Draco’s thighs. His hands cupped Draco’s ankle and he pulled his sock off slowly, kissing his ankle and massaging his calf before placing it back down on the bed and repeating the gesture with his other foot.

“I want you to fuck me.” Draco said, he leaned up to slide his arms around Harry’s shoulders, “And then I want you to make love to me.” He kissed Harry square on the mouth and pulled him back down to cover his body with a small laugh. Harry didn’t respond in words, he just slid his arms around Draco’s waist and hoisted him further up the bed.

Draco’s hips moved against Harry’s insistently. He took advantage of being practically pinned down and took a moment to slide the length of his cock against the hot jut of Harry’s. The hiss of pleasure he got in return had him repeating the gesture in desperation.

“If you keep doing that, I’m gonna cum so fucking early.”

“Hurry up then.” Draco wrapped his legs around Harry’s hips and dug into his bare arse cheeks with the back of his heels. Harry threw a hand out and blindly groped around the bedside table for his wand.

“Ani praelino.” He murmured with a quick flick, once he had managed to get a hand on his wand. 

Draco moaned. Low, deep, and so goddamn enticing that Harry wasted no time in throwing his wand back to where he found it, his glasses following a second later.

“Where did you learn that?” Draco murmured, his legs tightening around Harry’s hips at the sudden slide of lube inside of him.

“Had to do my research didn’t I?” Harry smiled gently down at his boyfriend, “Ready.”

“Yes, Harry, please.”

“I’m gonna stretch you first, okay?”

“Yesssss.” Harry’s thumb circled Draco’s opening. He pressed his mouth to Draco’s and continued to press against his rim with slow and gentle strokes, but not pressing inside, not yet. He flicked his tongue against Draco’s languidly. He pulled back and turned his attention to Draco’s neck, extra pale against the dark sheets, the love bite Harry had given him a few minutes earlier blossoming under his jaw. Harry picked a spot on the opposite side of his neck, and he pressed kisses and small licks to the pale skin. He opened his mouth and clamped his teeth around Draco’s neck at the same time as his thumb slid in.

The sound that escaped Draco, a mix of an oooo and an ahhh, had Harry pulling back up to kiss him on the mouth again. He was unwilling to rush this part. He wanted to make this as good as possible for Draco, and he was just a little bit desperate to memorise every hitch of his breath and groan from his throat. A minute later he was replacing his thumb with two fingers, at the same time as he took one of Draco’s nipples between his teeth.

“Yesss.” Draco hissed out again. His eyes closed in bliss and his head thrown back, as he arched up into Harry’s mouth and pressed back onto his fingers.

Draco was opening up for him so beautifully, his hole was clenching and relaxing methodically around Harry’s fingers and he didn’t need to wait as long to add a third. He was… enchanting. His head tipped back against the sheets. His lips red and swollen with kisses. His neck long and stretched out, with Harry’s marks blooming to redness up and down it. His torso and hips, arching up off the bed in pleasure. His cock, pink and hard, lay neglected against his stomach. And his hole was full of Harry’s fingers.

“I think I love you even more.” Harry whispered as he looked down at Draco. Spread out across the bed and stretched open for Harry. 

“Just fuck me already, Potter.” His request ended in a long keening moan.

“What’s my name, Draco?” Harry asked as he pressed his fingers in one last time.

“Harry,” Draco gasped, Harry lined up the head of his cock to Draco’s opening, “Ohh, Harry, Harry, Ha-” Draco chanted, and stopped himself with a loud cry of pleasure as Harry finally sunk in.

“Fuck Draco.” Harry agreed, as his eyes drifted shut, “You’re so tight. Merlin fuck.” He pulled out experimentally before pressing in again. The cry of pleasure that escaped Draco’s mouth was enough to spur him on. Pulling out and pressing in over and over again until Draco was babbling his name amongst a litany of fuck, and yes, and more. Harry swept his hands down Draco’s chest, in long strokes before landing on his hips and lifting him slightly until Draco’s eyes snapped open and-

“There!” He shouted, “Right there!” 

Harry moved his hips in small circles, pressing against that one spot time and time again until Draco was grabbing at the sheets under him. Fisting his hands in the material and bracing his shoulders against the mattress so he could meet Harry’s thrusts with his own. With both of his hands and all of his strength going into keeping Draco’s hips at that perfect angle he couldn’t reach down to tug at Draco’s forgotten cock.

“Touch yourself Darling.” Harry asked. Draco untangled one of his hands from the sheet and wrapped his long fingers around himself. And that, by far, was the most perfect thing he’d ever seen.

“Close, so close.” Draco panted as his hand stripped desperately against his dick.

“Me too.” Harry answered. He pulled out once. Twice. Three times. Before groaning deeply, “I’m gonna-” But his orgasm beat him to it. His hips stuttered against Draco’s and he finished inside him. His balls tight against the base of his dick as they emptied, “Fuuuuuuck.” His cock was still inside Draco when the blonde’s hand halted on his own cock and he came all over them both. The force of it shooting cum up Harry’s chest, a drop of it even landed on his chin.

“Oh. Merlin.” Draco breathed out as he went completely boneless under Harry. The rapidly softening cock releasing from inside him as he collapsed onto the sheets.

Harry followed him. Falling onto the bed next to him but remembering to grab his wand on the way down.

“That was the greatest thing ever.” Harry said.

“Why did we wait so long to do that? We could have been fucking for ages.” Draco agreed. Harry laughed. He waved his wand over them a couple of times. Cleaning them both as much as magic could.

Draco turned on his side and stuffed one arm under his pillow so he could look at Harry. Harry copied him, and reached out one hand to rest against his hip.

“So, I don’t think I’ll be able to fuck you  _ and  _ make love to you in one night. And I’m pretty sure I messed up the order, because I’m sure I made love to you first.”

“I think so, but I think I can forgive it. Based on your performance.” Draco smiled at Harry.

“We can definitely swap next time though.”

“You’ll bottom?” Draco raised his eyebrows in surprise.

“Sure, only fair. Besides, it looked like you had fun down there and I refuse to do all the work.” They laughed together and Harry pressed a kiss to Draco’s forehead and cheeks before landing on his lips.

“You were beautiful.” Harry commented when they were finally back to staring up at the curtains above.

“And you were wonderful.”

“Everyone knows what we just did.” Harry turned his head to look at Draco.

“They all thought we were already doing it anyway.” The Slytherin replied.

“Shower before dinner?” Harry suggested.

“Most definitely.” 

Harry rolled to the edge of the bed and with a great amount of effort he swung his legs over the side and stood up. His body was sore, his legs ached and he wouldn’t be surprised if he had bruises on his arse cheeks from Draco’s bony feet. He turned and held a hand out to Draco. The blonde stood slowly. He winced as he took a step forward and pressed a hand to his lower back.

“Did I hurt you?” Harry asked, concerned.

“All normal pains, I think. Nothing a nice hot shower and a good night's sleep won’t solve. Don’t worry Harry, you were wonderful.” He leaned forward and wrapped his arms around Harry’s neck so he could pull him into a tender kiss.

“I look forward to the next time.” His silver eyes shone with promise and Harry couldn’t help but grin back.


	18. Chapter 18

They arrived at Kings Cross Station in their usual flurry of activity. Descending on the station like a plague of locusts or, (as Draco thought to himself from his spot at the back of the group) a plague of gingers. They were running late, as per usual, and had to take the barrier two at a time to get them all through before the train was due to leave. Draco followed along with the rest of them, tucking himself out of the way behind Harry as much as possible and hoping that he wouldn’t be spotted by anyone who recognised him. He couldn’t believe that a family with this much practice at corralling this many Hogwarts students year after year still couldn’t get themselves together enough to catch the train on time. 

He and Harry had finished packing the night before, and Draco had shrunk down their trunks in the morning so that they didn’t have to drag them around. Then he spent the rest of the morning sitting at the bottom of the staircase, rolling his eyes at every Weasley who rushed past him with their arms full of things they should have packed days ago. Harry said his goodbyes to Sirius and Remus, hugging them both tightly, and sat behind Draco on the stairs, his knees bracketed Draco’s waist and his chin rested on Draco’s shoulder. At his hundredth eye roll Harry flicked him gently on the ear.

“If we miss the train I will not be very happy.” Draco said.

“We won’t miss the train.”

“At this rate-” Draco leaned out of the way for Ginny, who dashed past him for the fourth time, “At this rate, we’re going to miss the feast, nevermind the bloody train.” Harry laughed and kissed Draco on the crown of his head before going to the top of the stairs and helping Ron lift his trunk down.

“Featherlight charm, Weasley?” Draco asked.

“Er, yeah, please.” Draco waved his wand subtly at Ron’s trunk, and continued to do the same for anyone else who was struggling to pull their heavy and awkward cases down the stairs.

“And you still pretend you don’t like them.” Harry murmured in his ear on his way up to help Ginny.

“Lies Potter, I just don’t want to miss the train.”

“We won’t miss the train Draco.” Harry called behind him as he ran up the stairs.

They hadn’t missed the train. But it had been damn close. Draco had barely stepped on it when the whistle blew and the parents hanging around on the platform started waving to their children. The Gryffindors settled themselves in a carriage and Draco hung around the doorway for a second.

“I’m going to go find Pansy and Blaise.” Harry turned to him in concern.

“Keep your wand close.” They had talked about this already. Harry would leave him to fight his own battles if Draco promised to reach out if he needed. He didn’t need Harry to hover over him and protect him, he needed to stand on his own two feet and prove to the Slytherins that they couldn’t push him around. That he was still a Malfoy. And being a Malfoy still meant  _ something. _

Draco found his friends in a compartment at the other end of the train. Pansy was trying on a new pair of robes, and she was spinning slowly in front of a very bored Blaise, flouncing her newly shortened skirt, which Draco knew was definitely not regulation uniform.

“You’ll never get that skirt passed McGonagall.” Draco said from the open doorway, he leaned against the frame and crossed his arms over his chest.

“Draco!” Pansy flew to his side and dragged him by the wrist into the compartment, closing the door behind him, “Oh Merlin, Draco. I’m so glad you’re okay.” She pulled him into a fierce hug, “I got your letter but I wasn’t able to reply, I’m sure my mail’s being watched.”

“I wasn’t sure if you would want to talk to me. Wasn’t sure you’d be allowed.”

“Oh, I’m not allowed. But when did that stop me?” She took both of his hands in her own and regarded him up and down, “You look fantastic.” Draco grinned, a week of eating Mrs Weasley's cooking and sleeping next to Harry did wonders for his complexion, “Doesn’t he look fantastic, Blaise?”

Blaise snapped his book closed sharply.

“You’re an idiot.” Blaise said.

“Blaise!” Pansy warned him.

“What? He is!” He put his book to one side, “You renounce the Dark Lord, turn away from your family and your friends. For what?”

“For Harry Potter.” Draco answered simply with a half shrug.

“And he’s worth turning your back on everything?” Draco pulled himself up to his full height and looked Blaise in the eye.

“Yes.” 

“What about your Mother? What about your Father?” Blaise asked.

“I expect my Mother is already dead,” Draco tried not to break down at his admission, it hurt to think that he had been the cause of his Mother’s death and he had only got through the last week or so by not pondering the subject, “My Father can rot in hell. I won’t bow to a megalomaniac, the Malfoy name means more than that. Even if my Father is yet to come to that conclusion.” 

“I can’t believe you Draco.”

“If you want me to walk away then I can. If name and status are more important to you than a fifteen year friendship then I’ll turn around right now.”

“He doesn’t want that.” Pansy gripped Draco’s arm, “You don’t want that, do you Blaise?” She looked at the dark skinned Slytherin in desperation.

“No. But if you get me killed Draco, I swear I’ll find a way to drag you down with me.” 

Draco grinned and allowed himself to relax. The acceptance of his friends meant more to him than he realised, and spending so much time around Gryffindors had softened him up. He wasn’t really sure if he could have walked away with his head held high if Blase had rejected him.

“So, Draco. We need to know everything.” Pansy pulled him down to sit next to her.

“Well, when I left the Manor-”

“Oh no, not about that. Tell us about Potter.” She leered at him, “You’ve shagged right? How big is he? Is he good at it?”

“I don’t want to know any of this. Please don’t answer any of those questions Draco.” Blaise blanched in disgust and covered his ears.

“He’s adequate.”

“Adequate? Just adequate? You turned away from the Dark Lord for adequate?” She looked disgusted.

“Fine, quite adequate.”

“Draco!”

“I have no complaints okay, and I’m not going into specifics.” He crossed his arms, “A gentleman doesn’t kiss and tell.”

Pansy huffed and folded her arms in defeat.

For Draco the first evening at Hogwarts felt exactly the same as it had all the other times. He spent the train ride catching up with Pansy and Blaise as per usual (Blaise told Draco about Christmas in Italy with some members of his family, Pansy had been in France on her grandmother's estate, “I think our mothers were trying to keep us as far away from You-Know-Who as possible.” Pansy had commented). The three of them had walked into the Great Hall together and had sat facing the Gryffindors. In previous years this was where Draco would usually spend a good ten to fifteen minutes complaining about the Weasleys and then another ten minutes moaning about Harry. Now that he thought about it he was incredibly surprised that no one hexed him into silence, because he’s pretty sure he used to just complain about the same things over and over again. This year though, he looked over at Harry and returned the fond smile with his own. Their trip to the Slytherin common room was filled with a companionable silence, lethargic from the hearty feast. It was only when they made into the common room that Draco remembered everything wasn’t the same.

Members of his house descended on him the moment he stepped through the entrance. His arms were grabbed and forced behind his back and a wand was shoved into his neck. Coincidentally the same spot, right under his jaw, that Harry favoured. He tilted his head to the side so he could meet his attackers eyes head on. 

“Warrington.” Draco sneered, “Montague. Pucey.” He acknowledged the two behind him, who were currently pinning his arms at an uncomfortable angle. Blaise had pulled Pansy to the side, he was holding her elbow to stop her from doing something stupid and her grip on his robes was white knuckled and desperate. But their faces were the perfect Slytherin mask, and Draco was almost proud to see how well Pansy had mastered it over the past year. 

His usual shadows, Crabbe and Goyle, were hovering with the rest of the Slytherins. Their beefy arms crossed and their faces glowering with the rest of them. It wasn't a surprise, but the realisation that he wouldn't be able to rely on their brawn to scare people away was a bit of a punch in the gut. They'd never been friends, the arrangement had been beneficial to them all, he had gained two bodyguards and they had been ingratiated with the Malfoy family and it's connections. He had hoped that they would be civil to him at the very least. Apparently not.

“Malfoy. We didn’t expect to see you back.” Warrington's tone was casual, but the wand pressing into his neck was anything but.

“I’m here for an education, am I not?”

“Stop trying to be funny, Malfoy.”

“Fine. What do you want?” Draco’s eyes steeled with undisguised rage. The pendant on his chest was heating up and he just knew he had about two minutes to answer before Harry was tearing up the castle to find him.

“I want to hand your body over to the Dark Lord and laugh over your corpse.” Warrington took a step closer until he was breathing right into Draco’s face, “Just like my Father laughed as he fucked your Mother.” Draco paused mid-sneer.

“Fuck you Warrington.” Draco spat.

“You’d like that wouldn’t you Malfoy, heard you liked it up the arse, that runs in the family too I guess.”

“Back off.” 

“Are you going to make me?” Draco collected himself, pushed down his fury, and made way for his practical self. He had prepared for this moment, and he knew exactly what he needed to say.

“Do you know where your Father spent most of his nights this Summer and this Christmas?” Draco asked, “You too, Montague? Pucey? Any idea?” The three seventh years were silent. “All right, I’ll tell you. They were at Malfoy Manor, bowing at the feet of Lord Voldemort. Torturing people in my Entrance Hall. Talking about their raids over my breakfast table. All the while I watched and listened.”

Warrington's wand shook against his throat.

“Although I expect you already knew that. And not to mention you've just very publicly threatened my life, if I were to turn up dead tomorrow morning do you think the authorities wouldn't find out? I've heard the Dementors love murderers the most.” Draco smirked.

“What do you want?”

“I want you to release me. And then I want you to stay away from me. Memories are admissible in court after all and I’ve got a fair few of those stashed away should anything happen to me.” He had placed a Memory Orb in his vault at Gringotts and had handed one to Harry the night before they had left Grimmauld Place.

The wand fell from his neck and his arms were released. 

“I suggest you keep your distance.” He said before turning on his heel and marching up to his dormitory. He caught Pansy's eye and shook his head very slightly, telling them not to follow him up. Once he was safely behind the door he rubbed at the spot on his neck that was surely going to bruise, and stretched his arms out to get rid of the ache in his shoulders. He pulled the journal out of his trunk to calm Harry down.

_ Draco. The Oath is going crazy. Are you okay? _

_ If you don’t answer in the next 5 minutes I’m coming to find you. _

_ Right, I’m on my way.  _

Draco scrambled for a quill.

_ I’m fine. Just some people I’ve had to put into place. You don’t need to come down. _

No response.

_ Harry. Don’t you dare come down here. _

No response

HARRY!

Draco threw the journal down and scrubbed his hands through his hair. A trait he knew had rubbed off on him from Harry.

The door opened in the silence of the room. And shut with a solid thunk.

“Who’s there?” Draco paused, and whispered, “Harry?”

“Merlin Draco, are you okay?” Harry rushed to him once he had thrown the invisibility cloak to one side, “The Oath was going crazy, were you attacked?” He cupped Draco’s chin and kissed him solidly on the mouth. 

“Haw the fuck did you get in here?”

“I’m a Parselmouth.” Harry shrugged as he checked Draco over.

"How did you get through the common room?"

"I was invisible, and it was loud enough that people didn't notice me. You're dodging the question."

“I’m fine Harry. Which you would know if you didn’t charge around like the Gryffindor you are and actually kept an eye on your journal.” 

“I- Yeah, you’re right. Fuck, sorry. I’ll just head back up then.” Draco’s jaw dropped at Harry’s easy concession. 

“No you bloody well won’t. You’re here now, I expect a bloody great snog.” Draco was relieved when Harry grinned at him, “Come on, grab your cloak.” He ushered Harry into his bed and pulled the hangings closed around them.

“Now kiss me, you wonderful Gryffindor fool.” 

“I’m sensing an oxymoron there.” Harry murmured, his hands sliding around Draco’s slim waist.

“More kissing.” He ordered. And Harry conceded, his body melting at Draco’s touch.

It was at least an hour later when Harry finally pulled away from the blonde. He panted slightly against Draco’s skin, and his fingers trailed up and down Draco’s smooth back.

“I should go.” All of the fifth year Slytherin's had come up to bed and settled behind their own bed hangings, they’d left Draco well alone after the altercation in the common room, his closed curtains a big 'Fuck off' if they'd ever seen one.

“No. Stay.” Draco urged, he was hard and he wanted Harry.

“I really should get back.” Harry tried to pull away but was met with resistance from Draco’s hands locked around his neck.

“Harry. Just so you’re fully aware, because I know it’s difficult for you to comprehend these things sometimes, if you stay I will definitely have sex with you. If you go, you’ll be walking back through freezing cold corridors to an extremely empty bed. You decide.” Draco settled down onto his pillows and folded his arms behind his head, waiting for Harry to make his mind up.

“You present a very convincing argument.” And Harry was lowering himself down over Draco’s body and pressing his mouth to the small circular bruise under his jawline.


	19. Chapter 19

“This is a really fucking dumb idea.” Draco said to Harry, looking over at the Gryffindor who stood resolutely by his side. The last time he had said that was when Harry had dragged him into a kiss in the broom shed, and he had been right about it then too. 

“This was your idea.” Harry reminded him as though he had forgotten.

“You agreed to it! How could you agree to it?!” It had seemed like the best course of action when he had suggested it, but that had been while they were tangled together in the safety and comfort of his bed. Now he was faced with the stark reality of actually carrying it out and he could feel his confidence waning.

“Because I know that you’re usually always right.” Harry caught Draco’s hand, “We’ll do this together okay?”

“Fuck this is dumb.” Draco repeated.

“Come on, let’s get it over and done with.” 

Draco opened the oak door to his empty dormitory, his dorm mates had all disappeared to the common room or down to breakfast, once again leaving Draco to his own devices. Draco suspected that it would be that way from now on, there weren’t many Slytherins who were scrambling to be his friend after what he had done over Christmas. They walked down the stairs hand in hand and Draco stopped them a few steps before the bottom. He took a deep breath and looked over his shoulder at Harry for support, the Gryffindor was a solid line against his back, steadfast and loyal to the core. Fucking Gryffindors.

“You can do it.” Harry nudged him gently and offered up a supportive smile. Draco took a deep breath. He squared his shoulders, hardened his expression, and led Harry down the last few stairs and into the Slytherin common room.

All conversations stopped.

After the events of last night, Draco’s presence alone was enough to stop a conversation in its tracks. But having Harry Potter following him down the stairs had people’s eyes bugging out of their skulls. Draco would have laughed if he wasn’t concentrating so much on keeping his face blank. They headed across the common room at an even pace, Harry following a half a step behind Draco until they reached the stretch of wall that served as the secret entrance to the Slytherin house. They turned to face each other. Harry raised his hand and cupped the back of Draco’s neck, Draco fisted his hands in the front of Harry’s shirt and then they were kissing. 

In front of the entire Slytherin house. 

Draco tried not to rock up onto his toes to push further into Harry’s embrace, determined to keep some kind of public face in front of his house. This really had been a very stupid idea.

“See you later.” Harry murmured, his thumb caressing the back of his neck once before he allowed his hand to fall away. With one last look at Draco he turned and disappeared through the open stone doorway.

“Good morning.” Draco commented to the silent room. He walked back across the common room and back up to his dorm. He made sure the door was shut and the room was empty, before he finally allowed himself a stupid love-drunk smile.

The whispers followed them for the rest of the day. Half the school was calling the Slytherins liars, and coming up with conspiracy theories about why they would make up such ridiculous stories. The other half was too busy gossiping about how, and why, and what the hell was Harry Potter thinking sleeping with a Slytherin? And then there were a handful of students who fully believed that Harry had been dosed with a spell or a potion.

By his last class of the day Draco was getting tired of it all. He'd barely seen Harry all day, who had to return all the way to Gryffindor tower to shower and get ready for classes so he'd missed breakfast. And then he'd been dragged away at lunch time by his Gryffindor friends who were dying to find out the truth from Harry personally. The two times they'd passed in the corridors Harry had brushed Draco's hand with his own and offered him a small supportive smile. Up until that point it almost hadn't been worth coming out at all. He’d had to move tables in all his classes so that he was sat at the back, all too aware how much of a target he was if he sat with his back presented to anyone. The jeers followed him as he walked down the halls and twice he had erected a Protego charm just in time to deflect whatever hex had been aimed at him.

"Hey Malfoy, did Potter just let you  _ slither in _ ?" The extremely unoriginal taunt came from a particularly crude sixth year Ravenclaw.

"Are you whoring yourself out for Dumbledore now, Malfoy? Starting with Potter and ending with Weasley?" Came from a fourth year Slytherin.

But his last class was Potions. With the Gryffindors, and Harry. Draco was just setting up his cauldron in the centre of the table when the rest of the class started to arrive. He had found that it was terribly easy to reach a classroom before anyone else when being out in the open made him a favourite target for hexes and jinxes. Harry sat down next to him heavily. He thunked his head on the wooden bench and groaned low in his throat. Draco smiled. Probably the first smile he'd cracked since Harry had left his dormitory that morning.

"Has your day been as fucked as mine?" Harry had asked, not even bothering to lift his head from the desk.

"Worse, I expect."

"Felt those two hexes you deflected. Nice one." He shifted to look at Draco with an impressed smile, which meant he had his cheek pressed right against the wood.

"Sit up Harry, you've no idea how many potions ingredients have been touching that table." Harry sighed, but did as he was told, lifting his arm up so he could prop his cheek on his hand lazily.

"Do you regret doing it?" Harry asked.

Did he? He had earlier, immensely. But as he sat, with Harry's thigh pressed against his own and his hand resting on his knee Draco could only think, hell no.

"No." His hand found Harry's under the table and gave his fingers a quick squeeze before Snape strode into the classroom. His magic flared briefly at the contact, practically singing in delight at the tingling feel of Harry's responding in turn. He had been so used to the constant flood of magic through his veins throughout the Christmas holidays that he almost jumped when it rushed through his system again. He had missed Harry throughout the day, but there was no excuse for how desperate his magic was as it tumbled inside him at Harry's mere touch.

The rest of the class was a wake up call for Draco. He was suddenly being treated like Longbottom. When Snape passed around their marked essays that they’d completed before the holidays, he and Harry had both received an A and he was fuming.

“Professor, may I ask why this essay only received an A?” He’d never received less than an O for any Potions assignment and he couldn’t see why he’d received less than an O for this one.

“I have reason to believe that Potter copied your assignment, given those circumstances you should both be grateful that you received a passing grade. If I had evidence to your blatant cheating then both of your papers would have received a P or an unmarked. 10 points from Gryffindor for plagiarism, 15 points from Slytherin for allowing him to see your paper. And 10 points from Slytherin for disregarding my authority on this matter.”

Draco opened his mouth to object but Harry’s fingers were digging into his leg and he snapped his mouth shut with a glare at his Head of House. When Draco had spilled a drop of Acromantula venom it was “ _ 5 points from Slytherin for wasteful use of potions ingredients _ .” Coaching Harry on the best way to crush beetle shells lost him “ _ 5 points for not letting Potter work it out on his own _ ”. By the end of the class Draco was sure Snape had taken at least 50 points from his own house. If Draco hadn’t already been the butt of the Slytherins' displeasure he certainly was now. His hands were shaking with badly masked fury and if he could, he was sure his eyes would be spitting fire. The end of the class was a relief, he found himself throwing his stuff back into his bag as fast as the Gryffindors and he was the first one out of the door, with Harry following closely at his heels.

“That was absolutely fucking ridiculous.” Draco swore as he kicked a nearby wall. Harry hovered behind him with his hands stuffed deep into his pockets, but there really wasn’t much he could say in response, “I’m going to fail Potions. Me!” He looked up at Harry, horrified at the very thought.

“The OWLs are invigilated and marked by third party.” Harry said, repeating a phrase that Hermione had been saying to him throughout the entire year, “You won’t fail, you’re the best Potions student in our year.”

“But I’m barely going to learn anything from him now am I? I’m going to be so far behind.” He leaned against the wall he’d just abused and pressed the heels of his hands against his eyes in frustration.

“Come on Draco, let’s go up to the Room of Requirement for a bit before dinner.” Harry held his hand out, and after a second glance and a deep sigh, Draco took it and allowed Harry to pull him closer.

“Is this what the past 5 years have been like for you?” Draco asked as he walked by Harry’s side up to the Entrance Hall.

“Pretty much. At least no one tried to throw anything into our potion today.” Draco cringed.

“You know, I’m sorry about that.” Harry threw an arm around his shoulders and pulled him into his side so he could lean over and kiss him on the temple.

“I know.” 

“There you both are!” They both jumped at the loud exclamation from Hermione. Without realising it they had already made it up to the Entrance Hall where Hermione and Ron were hovering around, waiting for them to show up. Harry’s arm fell away from Draco's shoulders to rest on his lower back, urging him on towards the grand staircase.

“We’re heading up to the Room of Requirement.” Harry informed his friends. 

“I’m coming with you.” Hermione insisted.

“Hermione-” 

“You both need to work on your magic connection and it’s obvious that you aren’t going to do it without someone hovering over you.”

“She’s right.” Draco agreed, “Sorry, Harry. But we really do need to start to get a handle on this, and we really have been putting it off.”

"But…" Harry whined with a fake pout at Draco.

“Oh, pull yourself together and contain your hormones. I’ll only stay with you until dinner, after dinner you both can spend as much time together as you want. We don’t have any assignments yet anyway.” 

“Yeah, okay. Coming Ron?”

“Fine,” Ron sighed, “Just no kissing while I’m there.”

“I make no promises.” Draco replied as he sauntered past Ron with a smirk. 

He would absolutely not tell Harry how much more comfortable he felt now that he wasn’t walking through the corridors alone. Having the golden trio surrounding him gave him more confidence than he'd felt all day. His smirk was back in place, plastered firmly on his face as they passed by first years who stared up at Harry with stars in their eyes, or sixth years who glared at Draco. Harry didn't seem to notice the worshipping stares or the hateful glares. He just walked along with his best friends, laughing at yet another Finnegan explosion from their Charms class, with his hand anchored firmly to Draco's lower back. The touch felt so comforting after his shit day that he couldn't even think about shrugging him off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick note to say thank you for all the Kudos and Comments so far. I honestly live off it and it makes me so happy to get those notifications.
> 
> :)


	20. Chapter 20

Hermione's request for a space to practice manifested as the all too familiar DA room with it’s bookcases, practice dummies and full body cushions. And once they were through the hidden doorway she was grabbing two of those cushions and placing them in the middle of the floor, an arm's reach apart. She urged them both to sit down, crossed legged and face to face. Ron spared them a glance but decided to keep out of it, he thought himself up a chessboard instead and sat at the other side of the room to practice against the Wizarding chess pieces. Generally happy to keep himself out of the way, but there if they needed him for anything.

“So,” Hermione started speaking once they were comfortably settled on the big cushions, “I think the best way to do this is to lead you through some sort of guided meditation. I think we should figure out just how much your magics respond to one another, how attuned you both are.” She explained.

“What are we trying to do? Are we trying to break the connection or enhance it?” Draco asked, looking up at her from his place on the floor.

“I don’t know yet. I think we should work out if it helps you or hinders you first.” Harry and Draco nodded in response, “Okay. I want you both to close your eyes.” She instructed.

Harry gave Draco a smile and closed his eyes. Draco took a deep breath and followed his lead. Hoping that this might get them just a little bit closer to figuring out what the hell was going on with them.

“I want you to dive deep inside and find your magical core.” Harry followed the pulse of his magic down as far as he could, it led him to the glowing pillar of fire within him. Undisturbed, apart from the wisp of air that curled around the very centre. Draco’s magic, happily binding him to his oath.

“Are you both there?”

“Yes.” They agreed.

"What does it feel like? What does it look like?” Hermione’s voice was low, even and hypnotic. She was speaking to them in a light and imploring tone. A tone which he hadn’t heard very often from the book smart, no-nonsense Gryffindor.

"Fire. A pillar of fire.” Harry answered for the two of them, “And Draco's magic is in the middle, like wind, holding me to my Oath. It's small but my magic is accepting it, like it's allowing it to exist."

“Reach out for each other, Harry with your right hand, Draco with your left. I want only the tips of your index fingers to touch.”

Harry reached out for Draco slowly with their eyes still closed. Their fingers bumped together awkwardly before they finally found each other, the tip of his finger pressed to Draco’s firmly, the solitary touch was enough to ground them both. Even though his emotions were being soothed by Draco’s touch, the fire inside Harry acted the opposite, jumping and flaring up in response to that single touch.

“How are your cores reacting?” Hermione asked. 

“Mine flared up. And I can feel it reaching out to Draco, like a piece of string from his finger to my core.” Harry answered immediately, he could feel that one single string connecting them, it felt so real to him that he almost wanted to open his eyes to see if an actual piece of string had merged with both of their fingers.

“So it’s not a flood of magic, it’s just a connection at that single point of contact?” Harry nodded in response, “Draco?” Hermione asked, prodding for more information from the Slytherin who was yet to speak.

“Mine’s similar, a string like Harry said. But just touching Harry makes it harder to control.”

“Control?” Hermione asked.

“Control over my magic. It’s like wind, but at his touch it picks up speed. The more contact we have the faster it moves, until it feels like a tornado inside of me.” Draco answered, with as much honesty as possible, since it was so difficult to put into words just what Harry was doing to him.

“Hold hands.” Hermione instructed. Harry slid his fingers between Draco’s without hesitation, holding his hand tightly with their palms pressed flush together. His thumb began to move in small soothing circles against the back of Draco’s hand.

“It’s faster now, the wind,” Draco commented, “Harry’s magic is more powerful than mine, I feel like it’s channelling into me.”

“And the string?” Hermione questioned from above them. 

“It’s not a string anymore. I don’t know how to describe it. It’s just running through me, from my core to my palm. It’s not concentrated in any one path.” Harry tried to describe it, but he just couldn't pin down how it felt. It had no comparison to anything else in his entire life. His magic was filling him, spreading down his arm, and bringing with it a rush of goosebumps to every millimetre of his skin. 

“So, the surface area of your physical connection dictates the strength of it?”

“Yes, I think so.” Draco answered while Harry nodded in agreement.

“Draco, you said you've had control for years, I wonder if you could channel Harry’s magic into yourself?” Hermiones even and soft tone had given way to her curiosity.

“I don’t know if I can. It’s a lot of raw power.” 

“As soon as you feel like it’s too much just let go.”

Harry felt something then. He was so used to feeling his magic surging up to meet Draco’s, that the ebb he felt was immediate.

“Whatever you’re doing, it’s working. I can feel it.” Harry commented. Without even realising it he was raising his other hand, meeting Draco’s palm that he just knew was waiting for him in midair.

“How much should I take?” Draco asked. He could feel it inside of himself. Harry’s fire sped around the tornado of his core, building him up from the inside out. He felt like any spell he cast right now would be ten times more powerful. Harry was walking around day after day with all of this power inside of him, like it was normal, like it was  _ nothing.  _ Draco wondered how many times he had to pull back power from his spells, especially the simple ones. It had seemed so ridiculous last year when he had been told about the showdown between Voldemort and Harry, Voldemort's Avada Kedavra against Harry’s much simpler Expelliarmus. How their spells had clashed in a Priori Incantatem and how Harry had come out the victor. In a battle of nothing but pure strength of will and strength of power, _Harry had won_.

“What does it feel like?” Hermione asked, but she sounded far away. His ears felt like they were filled with cotton wool.

“Like a fiery tornado.” He sounded strained and Harry’s eyes shot open in concern as Hermione knelt at his side and gripped his arm.

“Let go Draco.” Harry said, as Draco’s forehead creased in concentration and his eyes clenched shut from the strain of containing Harry’s much wilder magic.

“It’s so much.” Draco whimpered, barely hearing anyone in the room around him.

“Draco! Let go!” Harry tried to tug his hands away but Draco was holding him so tightly that he wasn’t able to shake him off. 

“Malfoy, stop!” Ron yelled from the other side of the room. He rushed over, and with Hermione’s help they managed to pull Draco away, prying their hands apart and dragging Draco backwards and away from Harry. His hands dropped into his lap uselessly, as though he didn’t know what to do with them now that they were disconnected.

“I can’t hold it. It’s so fucking strong.” His eyes were still clenched shut and his voice came out small and fraught.

“Draco...” Harry wanted to reach out and touch him, but he didn’t want to add more magic to Draco’s struggle. He settled for leaning closer and mimed reaching out and stroking Draco’s cheeks, his hands hovering uselessly on either side of Draco’s flushed and pinched face.

“Say Lumos, Draco.” Hermione said in a stroke of understanding.

“What?” His ears were rushing, as though he was underwater. His eyes were still clenched closed with the effort of holding all the extra energy in, lest it burst out of him, taking himself and the three Gryffindors down with it, he felt like an Obscurial and he started to understand how those beings came to pass. Hermione pressed his wand into his right hand and he grasped it like a lifeline.

“Say Lumos.” Harry urged, “Please, Darling.” Harry’s hands still hovered over his face. Ron and Hermione were crouched behind him still, each of them holding onto Draco’s shoulders and robes from when they had forced the two of them apart.

“Lu-Lumos.” Draco cast shakily.

The light that burst from the end of Draco’s wand lit up every inch of the room as though a mini sun had appeared in the corner. It was so bright Draco could feel the heat of it warming up his face.

“Holy fuck!” Harry shouted as he clamped his eyes closed against the onslaught of pure white light.

“Merlin!” Ron and Hermione threw their arms up over their eyes.

“Nox! Draco, Nox!” Hermione urged desperately, her hands pressed against her eyes to prevent her retinas from being burned. 

“N-Nox.” Draco cast. And the sun disappeared, but so did the rest of the lights in the room. The candles in every holder extinguished simultaneously, plunging them into absolute darkness. Harry blinked his eyes open, balls of light were flashing across his vision as he tried to adjust to the abrupt change.

“Again Draco! Lumos and Nox.” Hermione encouraged, fisting her hands into the shoulders of Draco’s robes once again.

“Lumos.” Draco repeated, Harry kept his eyes shut, this time fully expecting the burst of light, “Nox.” Darkness followed.

“Keep going.” Harry encouraged, catching on to what Hermione was trying to do.

“Lumos,” The light was bright, but it was getting smaller, “Nox.”

“Lumos.” Smaller still, Harry could keep his eyes open this time, “Nox.”

It only took Draco three more times of casting the spell and counter spell before the Lumos was no more than a light at the tip of his wand. Brighter than it usually was, but still very much contained.

“Babe?” Harry asked, his hands cupped Draco’s jaw, finally. He was yet to open his eyes and he still held his wand in a white knuckled grip. The room was almost pitch black, were it not for the Lumos hanging brightly and happily at the end of Draco’s wand.

“I’m okay. I am.” He opened his eyes slowly to look into Harry’s green ones, his breathing had gradually steadied with each casting. 

“Fuck. Don’t do that again.” Draco's hand relaxed around his wand as Harry leaned forward and pressed their foreheads together, “I was so worried.”

“I didn’t take that much. I just couldn’t control it." Draco looked at Harry who was pulling back, "It was completely unrestrained power. I felt like a child trying to control a burst of accidental magic, like it was too much for my own body to control. I don’t know how you do it Harry, I don’t know how you can walk around with that much power inside you and not burn up." He sounded delirious but he didn’t care, the strain of trying to contain the magic had given way to the euphoria of having so much at his disposal, and… Oh, so that’s how Wizards turn dark.

“We’re not doing that again.” Harry said to Hermione over Draco's shoulder, who nodded quickly in agreement.

“Good call Granger, with the Lumos. That helped me siphon off the extra. But no, we definitely won’t be doing that again. Thank you as well Weasley."

"Er, yeah, no problem." Ron shrugged. 

Harry stood first. He pulled Draco to his feet slowly and once they were both standing he pressed a gentle kiss to Draco's temple. With a single thought the room re-lit the candles around them, filling the space with the usual glowing light and Draco cancelled the Lumos he had been holding.

"What was that supposed to do anyway?" Harry asked Hermione, looking over Draco’s blonde head to meet her eyes. 

"I was seeing if you could transfer magic. If you could do it while you were touching or even remotely, then that would be extremely useful for you both in a battle. But if it's going to be as volatile as that then I don't see it helping much."

"So you're saying, if we can learn to control that, then we'll be able to siphon magic into each other?"

"Yes."

"Maybe there's another way to approach it?" Harry asked.

"I think I've done enough damage for today," Hermione commented, as she watched the two of them embrace, "I'll do a bit more research and we'll figure out another direction in a couple of days. We'll see you at Dinner." She caught Ron's arm and dragged him out of the room with her.

"What do you want to do now?” Harry asked Draco, unwilling to let the blonde go just yet, “We have a bit of time before we should go down for Dinner." 

"I'm offended that you need to ask." Draco smirked and leaned forward. He nudged Harry's nose with his own, "I missed you today."

"Yeah? Shitty day wasn't it?" Harry agreed, rubbing the tip of his nose against Draco's in return.

"Somebody asked me if I let you  _ slither in."  _ Harry threw his head back and barked out a laugh.

“Not very original but I like it."

"Yeah? Don't tell them that." Harry grinned and slid his hand up Draco's jaw and into his blonde hair, "Kiss me you bloody Gryffindor." 

Harry pressed his lips to Draco's. He fell into the familiarity of Draco’s lips. His fingers rubbed the back of Draco's neck, pressing circles into the muscle that had been clenched tight all day. The sigh of pleasure against his mouth was all the motivation Harry needed to allow his fingers to creep down the back of Draco's neck, following the tense line of muscle. 

"I don't think I'm feeling right for sex right now." Draco admitted, pulling back from Harry's kiss.

"That's okay." Harry pressed gentle feather light kisses across his face.

"It's been a long day." Draco admitted.

"I know. I'm sorry you're going through all that."

"I think I deserve some of it. I shouldn't have expected everyone to shrug off everything I've ever done."

"I did." Harry responded.

"You fell in love with me. Unless you want the rest of the school to fall for me I don't think we can quite expect the same result."

"Pretty content having you to myself thanks." Harry smiled against his mouth before sinking back into another wonderful kiss.


	21. Chapter 21

“We should work on your Occlumency tonight, or tomorrow, before we start getting homework.” Draco said as they made their way down to the Great Hall for the tail end of Dinner.

After the day they’d had he was happy to avoid the majority of the crowds who preferred to eat directly after their classes. It seemed significantly later than it actually was, it had been a whirlwind of a day and he was already exhausted, but they really needed to get on top of all of Harry’s extracurriculars. He had the DA, Quidditch, sessions with Hermione, and Occlumency, as well as trying to fit in some time with Draco at some point.

“Oh Merlin, tomorrow, please? I don’t know about you but I’m fucking knackered.” He yawned widely, as if to prove his point.

“Tuesday then.” Draco agreed with a fond smile, a smile which he would absolutely deny if anyone were to point it out.

Walking into the Great Hall next to Harry Potter gave Draco such a rush. People's eyes were just drawn to Harry, whether he wanted them to or not. It didn't matter if it was his adoring fans or his bitter enemies, Harry commanded the attention of every room he walked in. Almost everyone respected him in some capacity, either through his defiance of Umbridge or because of his history. Even the Slytherins would admit that Potter was not someone to contend with. No matter what Harry thought about the attention, no longer was he riding on the coattails of fame from when he was a baby. He'd managed to survive everything that the school had thrown at him, the (somewhat false) account of the Defence teacher in first year, Slytherins monster in the Chamber of Secrets, Dementors in third year and winning the Triwizard tournament against students with three years more knowledge than him. Not to mention surviving a head-to-head battle against Voldemort (for those who chose to believe him).

Draco had always been aware that people were drawn to Harry, but it was only when Draco was standing next to Harry in front of half the school that he realised just  _ how much _ Harry was respected. People looked up to him, offered him smiles and nods of recognition from their house tables. Harry just smiled back at people politely, but he was so busy seeking out his friends that he didn’t give it much thought.

The elation of being at Harry's side lasted barely half a minute before the whispers started up again and people’s faces began to sour. He turned to the Slytherin table, trying not to feel any shame about standing at Harry’s side, and spotted Pansy and Blaise with a saved spot next to them. He had barely gotten two steps towards his friends when there was a hand on his elbow. Harry was pulling him back, tugging him into his personal space, a space which Draco was well acquainted with. Two fingers under his chin raised his mouth the two inches necessary to be directly in line with Harry's.

And then he was being kissed. 

Thoroughly. 

By Harry. 

In front of the entire school. 

Their magic practically sang in harmony as it roared up within them, crashing through their veins to meet at every point of skin-on-skin contact. It was brief. But it was obvious. Harry had staked his claim. Dispelling the rumours that the Slytherins had made the whole thing up, it didn't prevent the 'Harry is under a spell or potion' rumour, but it was a small step closer. Harry ended the kiss with a small secretive smile that made Draco's knees melt, and he pulled back with a little smirk. Once again Draco’s magic was under control. He returned the smirk and squeezed Harry's hand in his own before they were separated. Forcefully. An invisible wall physically pushing them apart with an almost audible snap.

"Mister Potter!" The very pink cladded form of the stout and toad-like Umbridge was marching towards them from the staff table at the front of the Great Hall, "Detention!"

"I'm sorry Professor, may I ask what for?" Harry feigned ignorance.

"Educational Decree Number 26, Mr Potter." Her voice was sickly sweet and venomous.

"Oh, that boys and girls must not be within six inches of each other? I just thought that didn't apply to our situation Professor."

"And why would you think that, Mr Potter? I suspect that there are many rules which you thought didn’t apply to you." She was starting to simmer with rage. 

"No, it’s not that Professor, I just mean that the Decree explicitly states, boys and girls Professor, but Draco and I are both male."

Draco couldn't believe he'd just tried to pull that card. He damn well knew he wouldn't be getting away with it, he just wanted to rile her up even more. Just great, Draco thought, the schedule he was planning out in his head for Harry's extracurriculars would be completely blown to hell if the Gryffindor prat got himself a month's worth of detentions on top of everything else.

"No lewd contact whatsoever Mr Potter! That's two weeks of detentions for you. And you, Mr Malfoy, a week of detentions."

She was going lightly on him. He was very pleased that his name held some weight. Even if it had only slashed his detention time to half of what Harry had been given.

"Professor, I instigated the entire thing. I don't see why Draco should be punished for my indiscretion when he was hardly an active participant." Bloody fucking Gryffindor.

"I definitely participated, Professor, I wouldn't expect you not to punish me as well." He glared at Harry.

“As that is settled, I expect you both to take a seat at your assigned house tables." She walked away, practically waddling on her short legs and her pink heels. Draco punched Harry in the arm before spinning away on his heel and striding to his place with Blaise and Pansy. Harry was sitting down next to Weasley when Draco finally looked over at him. He was writing something down furiously and Draco pulled the journal out in anticipation, not even needing the charm on the pendant to activate to know that Harry was writing to him.

_ That was part of my plan! You wouldn't have even got a detention. _

_ I'm not forcing you to go through that without me. I participated.  _ Draco quickly replied.

_But it's_ _not even your fault. I decided to kiss you and you didn't even know about it. I was gonna say that I forced you to kiss me or something._

 _Defeating the original reason for kissing me in the Great_ _Hall in the first place. You don't need to protect me._ Draco realised how stupid that was as soon as he'd written it down. But it was much too late to take back.

_ Yes I do. Remember _ . The Oath, how could he forget?

_Yes. I know. I'm sorry. But I'm not letting you take all the blame. That isn't_ _fair._

_ I'm just trying to save you from the blood quill. _

_ I know.  _ Draco saw Pansy trying to look over his shoulder at what he was scribbling but she couldn’t read anything through the charms that Harry had placed on the book,  _ We’ll talk later. Eat something. _

Draco tucked his quill away and closed the journal, shoving it back into his bag so that he could reach for the potatoes on his left side.

“What was that?” Pansy asked with a single perfectly sculpted eyebrow raise.

“It was a Christmas present.”

“From who? I couldn’t read it, is it charmed?”

“From Harry,” He could see the smirk cross her face out of the corner of his eye.

“From your Boooooyfriend.” She teased.

“Grow up Pansy, are you a Slytherin or not?” Blaise commented from opposite them, and Draco shot him a quick thankful smile, “As for you Draco, first the Common Room and now the Great Hall? Do you have a death wish?”

“No, it’s actually working perfectly.” Draco replied, still focusing on filling his plate up with all of his favourite foods.

“Getting hexed in the back? Losing points from Snape? Sounds like a plan with absolutely no flaws whatsoever.” Blaise griped.

“Nothing was ever going to stop the Slytherins from exacting revenge. But now I have the added protection from Harry’s little club. They don’t like me, but at least two of them have protected my back today.” The Defence club that Harry had started wasn’t exactly a secret within the student population, no one had found out where the group would meet or who exactly was in attendance, but everyone knew something was going on. And by the look on Hannah Abbott's face after their third period, and her tailing him down to his fourth period, he knew something had happened that he wasn’t totally aware of, but he certainly wasn’t going to bring attention to that fact.

“That’s actually not that bad of a plan.” Pansy agreed, “People are slightly less likely to hate you now that Potter has forgiven you.”

“It comes with its own dangers.” Blaise commented, but still nodded and agreed with Pansy’s assessment. 

“You still haven’t told us why Potter?” Pansy pointed out as she buttered a slice of bread.

“I don’t really know what happened to start it all. I was going to go flying but Harry was already there messing about with the Snitch, he was at the wrong end of the pitch entirely so I caught it, got mud everywhere in the process.” Pansy laughed at the twisted grimace of his mouth, “And then he just smiled at me.”

“That’s so romantic.” She sighed.

“Get a grip Pansy.” Blaise’s tone was cutting and the girl scowled at him in response, “Never thought you’d fall over yourself to follow a smile Draco. You know there’s plenty of Slytherin girls with good breeding who would have been happy to smile at you.”

“Blaise, I know you really don’t agree with my decision, but it  _ was  _ my decision. You can either support me or shut up.”

“I said I’d stand by you, so I will. I’ll stop saying it but don’t expect me to stop thinking it.”

“Agreed.”

X 

_ We haven’t talked about your inability to let me fend for myself. Like we originally planned.  _ Draco wrote to Harry later that evening, from his comfortable spot in front of the fire in the Slytherin common room. 

_ Because it’s not an option. I know I agreed, and now I wish I hadn’t. _ Harry’s response was instant, which conjured up the picture of Harry sitting with the journal open on his lap in the Gryffindor common room, waiting for Draco to write first.

_ It’s going to have to be an option when the war breaks out. You can’t protect me all the time. _

_ Do you know how painful it is for me when I can’t? It’s like a punch in the chest.  _ Harry knew that Draco had a point but the magic was too strong for him to contend with.

_ We’ll just have to learn how to control it.  _ Draco answered, trying not to huff out loud at the stubborn Gryffindor.

_ Amongst everything else I have to do this year.  _ Draco rolled his eyes to himself and picked up his quill to answer.

_ You’re the one who got yourself two weeks of detention, you’ve only yourself to blame. _

_ I couldn’t deal with everyone talking about you like that. I wanted everyone to see that I was choosing you and you weren’t forcing me into anything.  _ Bloody Gryffindor. A perfect but infuriating bloody Gryffindor.

_ Some people still think that you’re under the influence of a potion.  _ Draco pointed out. 

_ They’ll get over it eventually. What are you doing right now? _

_ Common room, trying to hang out with Pansy and Blaise but she’s determined to shorten all of her uniforms and Blaise is better at the spells than she is. _

_ Pansy’s trying on clothes? So what are you wearing?  _ Draco almost snorted at the obvious segue.

_ Haven’t bothered to get changed out of my uniform.  _ He usually did, but today called for an evening of taking over an entire couch in the Common Room and not moving until it was time to go to bed.

_ Hot. What underwear are you wearing? _

_ Harry. I refuse to go down that route of conversation.  _ Not that he really had to answer that question, Harry had been there when he had gotten dressed that morning.

_I just want to know why_ _your arse looked so delectable today?_

_ My arse is always delectable.  _ It really, truly, was and he wasted no time in showing it off whenever he could.

_ No arguments from me. Looks even better today for some reason. I’d love to get all up in that. _

_ You’re more than welcome to. It wasn’t my idea to go to separate common rooms tonight. _

_ I needed to spend some time with Ron and Hermione. _

_ And yet you’re writing to me? _

_ They’re playing chess. Hermione sucks, but she’s trying. I’m not very good either, not as good as Ron anyway. He beat McGonagall's giant chess set in first year when we were trying to get to the Philosophers Stone. _

_ Does anything normal happen to the three of you? _

_ Not really. I got a boyfriend this year, does that count? _

_ That depends on how normal being gay is in your world? _

_ Extremely normal.  _ Draco grinned at Harry's answer. 

_ Then I guess it counts. _


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Spoiler warning*  
> Scenes of a sexual nature  
> 50% plot, 50% porn

Harry was sitting on the floor of the Room of Requirement once again, cross legged, looking up at Draco with his bright green eyes. Several books lay next to him, some closed, some open, but all of them put to one side in favour of listening to Draco’s explanation instead.

“Do you understand?” Draco asked, once he realised that Harry was just staring up at him, rather than actually following along with his very carefully chosen literature.

“Occlumency protects the mind from mental attacks.” Harry nodded along.

“But.” Draco prompted.

“Not everyone can pull it off.” Harry continued.

“Because?”

“It’s difficult not think of something when someone mentions it.”

“And?”

“It requires complete concentration and hours of practice.” Harry finished reeling off Draco’s speech and grinned up at the Slytherin, “I really was listening, you know.”

“I thought you were just checking me out to be honest.” Draco shrugged.

“Well yeah, I was doing that too. You’d be a pretty good teacher you know, if you’ve not considered what you wanted to do after Hogwarts.”

“I’ll keep it in mind.” Draco mumbled, but he was blushing deeply. He had expected to follow his Father in the Ministry, taking over the house seats in the Wizengamot and on the school board of Governors, but he suspected his life would take a different turn now.

He sat down in front of Harry, his legs crossed and his hands on his knees. Assuming the pose that they had taken the day before.

“Feels familiar.” Harry commented, copying his position.

“Don’t worry, we don’t need to use magic this time. I just want you to close your eyes.” Harry did as he was asked, “Which approach would you like to try? Don’t forget that the first approach might not always be the best one for you, so don’t worry if it doesn’t work straight away.”

Harry glanced down at the books scattered to one side, he picked one at random.

“Boxes. Lets try boxes.”

“Close your eyes.” He looked back over at Draco and once again closed his eyes, “I want you to bring all of your memories forward.”

“How?”

“Just relax into your mind, let the memories wash over you, pull on whichever threads of memory pass you by, and allow yourself to experience whatever comes forward.” Harry relaxed and let his mind wander, “Don’t dwell on anything for too long, just let everything flow.”

Harry thought of Draco. His voice transformed into the sneer he hadn’t heard for the past few months, and a spitting “ _ Scarhead _ ” insult. The memory of their first Quidditch match against each other. The dodgy bludger following him around and trying to knock him off his broom. The beaters bat he’d used in his first year when Oliver was teaching him the rules of Quidditch “ _ You’d make a fair Beater _ …”. Dudley, beating him up, punching him in the face, and his glasses breaking and falling to pieces.

“Good Harry. Now I want you to imagine boxes, one at a time.” 

A plain brown cardboard box appeared in his mind's eye.

“Fill this with your deepest thoughts. Those that you want to protect with your life.”

Which memories were precious enough to give his life for? The vision of his parents looking back at him from out of an old magical mirror. The memory of saving Sirius from the Hogwarts tower in his third year. The memory of Draco, spread out in front of him, gasping for him.

“Another box Harry. What else is precious to you?” Draco guided.

Hagrid saving him from the Dursleys, “ _ You’re a wizard Harry _ .” Ron sacrificing himself in their game of giant chess, “ _ Checkmate _ .” Draco’s blushing cheeks, “ _ I love you _ .” Hermione looking at him with scratches on her cheeks and determination in her eyes, “ _ You’re a great Wizard Harry _ .”

“Keep going, fill as many boxes as you need Harry. Compartmentalise. Home life, school life, friends, enemies. Whatever you need to do to sort through them.”

Family? The Dursleys. His cupboard. Inflating his Aunt Marge. Dudley smashing up another television.

Friends? Ron, Hermione, Neville, Dean, Seamus. Nights in the tower laughing with his friends, trips to Hogsmeade that ended in pints of Butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks.

Enemies? Voldemort, Peter Pettigrew, Death Eaters, Dementors. The graveyard. The smirk on Wormtail's face when he lifted the Anti-Animagus spell on himself and disappeared into the night.

He kept going. Catching each memory as it slid through his mind and stuffing it into a corresponding box. Until he was done. Nothing slid past his mind's eye anymore, and he was left to look at a great mountain of boxes instead.

“I’m done.” He whispered into the silence of the room.

“Picture a safe place. The safest place you’ve ever felt. Somewhere small, that could be defended.”

His cupboard. No one entered his cupboard.

“Now lock it. Barricade it. No one can get in there unless you allow them to.”

“Okay.”

“Done?”

“Yes.”

“Open your eyes.” Harry did. He looked over at Draco who was smiling at him fondly, “I’m going to cast Legilimens, if that’s okay with you? I want you to go into that meditative state, conjure up that place in your mind, imagine yourself putting lids on all your boxes and closing and locking that door. But it needs to be instant. The more often we do this, the more familiar you’ll be with the process and the faster you’ll be able to lock down your mind.”

“Do it.” Harry nodded and caught Draco’s eyes.

“Legilimens.” 

Dudley punching him in the face. Uncle Vernon grabbing him by the back of his neck and throwing him in the cupboard.  _ “You’re a Wizard Harry _ ”... “ _ Or worse expelled _ .”... “ _ Death is the next great adventure _ .” ... “ _ I solemnly swear _ .” … “ _ You look astonishingly like your father. _ ” … “ _ Take my body back, Harry.” … “Blood of the enemy forcibly taken.” ... “Avada _ -”

“Lock it up Harry.” Draco urged, his voice cutting through his memories, “Put everything into those boxes and lock the door. Lock me out. Remember you don’t  _ want _ me to see any of this.”

Draco was watching... “ _ Scarhead _ .”... Draco… “ _ Mudblood _ .” ... “ _ My Father will hear of this”. _

Beautiful blonde Draco… “ _ I’m sorry _ .” ... Flushed pale skin…  _ “Fuck me, Harry _ .” ... Slim hips moving in circles… “ _ I love you _ .” … mouth wide and gasping in pleasure.

“Boxes Harry.” Draco reminded him.

Boxes? 

Yes, cardboard boxes. He remembered now. Everything needed to be in a box. 

“That’s it, keep going. Lock your room now.” 

Cupboard. Locked. Barricaded with wooden beams. He remembered now. Protecting his mind from Voldemort. 

“Finite.” Draco said. And Harry was back to himself, his head throbbed, his scar ached. But Draco was crawling closer, walking forwards on his knees and cradling Harry’s head with his hands. 

“I was shit.”

“No you weren’t, it’s just really difficult. And it takes months to throw someone off immediately. It took me almost a year to master it.” Draco smiled at him, “Your reward.” Draco kissed him softly, his mouth sliding across Harry’s with lingering tenderness. 

“You did really well. Next time you just need to remember why I’m in there. We won’t do it again tonight, it’s getting late. But you’ll really benefit from practicing every night. Just five minutes before you go to sleep will really help. Next time we can work on ways to direct the memories away from what the Legilimens wants to see. It’s easier than a complete mind lock down, but it’s more fragile and harder to keep up, memories are more likely to sneak through the cracks.” 

Harry looked down at his watch, they’d arrived at the room at 8pm but it was nearing 10:30 already. He hadn’t realised it had taken him so long to sort through his memories. He stretched his legs out on either side of Draco but made no move to stand up, the blonde was still cupping his face tenderly. The tingle of his magic was no more than a gentle caress across his cheeks. The feel of it fast becoming the best way to soothe and relax him.

“But,” Draco continued with a smirk, “I very much did enjoy seeing the way you thought about me.” He slid slowly into Harry’s lap, his legs straddled Harry’s thighs and his arms locked around his neck.

“That’s because you love yourself.” Harry teased back.

“Is that what you think of every time you look at me?” Draco asked, ignoring Harry in favour of sinking his hands into the mop of black hair on top of his head.

“It’s all I think of whenever someone so much as mentions your name. You’re glorious when we’re in bed together.” Harry’s hands were finding their way under Draco’s school shirt, his fingers dancing across the skin of Draco’s back and sides.

“Do you want to see what I think of?” Draco asked, his voice a breathy whisper against Harry’s ear.

“Merlin, yes.” Draco’s hips had begun to move in the slow grinding circles that Harry was becoming well accustomed to. He grabbed his wand in his right hand and said firmly, “Legilimens.” Sure that Draco would tell him if he was doing it wrong.

_ Harry was kneeling over Draco, his cock hard and flushed red. His hands sliding against pale skin.  _ Then the memory shifted, _ their first night back at Hogwarts, with Harry on his back in Draco’s bed, his skin shining from sweat in the low Lumos light. His mouth chanting Draco’s name as the blonde shifted on his knees and his cock pressed deeper into Harry.  _

“Finite.” Harry gasped. And Draco was looking at him with his grey eyes almost completely taken over by wide pupils, and his pink lips parted slightly. Harry practically grabbed him by the back of the neck, and pulled him back into a desperate kiss, “You goddamn beautiful Slytherin.” 

“Take me to bed Harry.” Draco whispered.

"My pleasure."

All of a sudden they were sinking into a deep, comfortable mattress. It was low to the ground, atop a wide wooden base. Harry was grinning under him. But before he could comment on the swift change of environment Harry was kissing him again. Wrapping his arms around Draco's waist and lifting him slightly so Draco could straighten his legs out from his kneeling pose and wrap them around Harry’s hips. Harry squeezed Draco's arse and lifted him enough to throw Draco down onto his back and cover him with his own body.

It only took a few seconds to negotiate Draco's body out of the confines of his robes, and only a few seconds more to throw his own on the floor next to them. Draco’s pale skin was completely on display for Harry to touch. His cock was hard and ready against his lower stomach, begging for any type of attention that Harry was willing to give it. Harry grinned then, and Draco's cock bobbed in response. He licked his way down Draco's body with just the tip of his tongue, it tickled in the most delicious way.

Harry reached his cock. He pressed his lips to the curved head and curled his tongue around the ridge of his tip. Draco had to remind himself to breathe. Harry wrapped his hand around the base, his fingers circling tightly and creating a slow wanking rhythm that had Draco leaking out onto the flat of his tongue. He didn't stop at the head for very long, with slow, languid movements he sank his mouth down the length in front of him, well aware that they had no need to rush. He pulled up sharply before sliding down again just as slowly as the first time, on each downward movement he took in more and more of Draco. Until his lips were meeting the top of his fingers which were curled in a tight ring around the base of Draco’s cock.

Draco's hands found Harry's hair again. He was tugging and pulling on the strands in pleasure, urging Harry to continue. Begging him for more. Begging him for everything. 

Harry pulled up and curled his tongue around that sensitive ridge before sliding his mouth down again. And at the same time as his dick hit the back of Harry's mouth he felt his hole open from the gentle specialised cleaning charm and the trickle of conjured lube.

"Oh fuck!" He screeched and it was only a wide splayed hand across his abdomen that stopped him from thrusting up into Harry's mouth. 

Harry moved up and down his cock once more. Following the ridge of the vein that ran from base to top. And then a single finger was sliding into Draco. Just as Harry’s tongue met that sensitive ridge once again.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck …" Draco chanted, with his hands fisted into Harry’s dark hair.

"I want you to say my name." Harry had come off his cock to say, in a gravelly tone that could only come from his throat being used as it was.

"Yes. Harry, Harry, Harry…." Another slide down and the one finger turned into two, "Can I please … I'm going to…" 

Harry pulled off suddenly and Draco groaned out in despair. He had been so fucking close.

"Not yet Darling. I'm not done with you just yet." Harry smirked and Draco smacked a hand against his chest half-heartedly, "Turn over." And Draco moaned again as Harry's fingers slid out. But he did as he was asked, presenting his bare arse to Harry in an absolutely shameless display of lust and trust. Harry immediately sank two fingers in once again in one smooth motion.

"Can I lick you?" Harry leaned across his back to murmur the question into his ear. Draco flushed a deep red but he was grateful that his face wasn't visible to Harry's questioning green eyes. He nodded against the sheets. Too afraid to say something that would perhaps put Harry off what he wanted to do. He would never have guessed it. Harry Potter, The-Boy-Who-Liked-To-Eat-Ass.

Harry's hands pulled Draco's cheeks apart. Presenting that tight hole that had given him so much pleasure.

"Stop me if you don't like it." Harry said, his mouth lowering down Draco's back, his breath curling against Draco’s skin deliciously, until he was directly above that slight opening. Already retracting closed from the few seconds of not being held open by his fingers. Harry pressed his tongue to Draco's hole and licked. He was aware that this should be weird. He should be a little squeamish about tonguing a guys arsehole. But he wasn't, he couldn’t explain why, but right now he felt like the most important thing in the entire world is getting his tongue as deep inside Draco’s ass as was humanly possible. His tongue met the slippery but tasteless lube and he used the extra moisture to slide his tongue into Draco without pause.

The blonde screeched in pleasure. His hips pressed back into Harry's hands, which were spread across his cheeks to hold him open, and his tongue, which was flicking against his rim. He had never felt anything like it before. His thought’s followed the same train as Harry’s, he felt like he should be grossed out but he had never felt anything as dastardly erotic as Harry's tongue sliding into him, and anything that felt this good could in no way be bad. Harry silently urged Draco to his knees, and Draco followed without question, presenting himself with his ass high in the air and his cheek pressed to the sheets. And Draco was proven wrong. The feel of two of Harry's fingers sliding into him, alongside his tongue was way better by far.

"Fuck, I-I can't … Fuck me Harry, please." Draco begged. Harry pulled away immediately and within seconds his cock was sliding deeper than his tongue or his fingers ever could. And all Draco could do was bury his face in the sheets beneath his cheek and press back onto Harry.


	23. Chapter 23

"Mr Potter I don't see why we should deviate from our current lesson. I trust you know what to do by now. A quill has been provided for you." Umbride said from the front of the Defence classroom where Harry and Draco had reported for their detention.

Draco bit the side of his cheek to stop himself from making a noise when Harry picked up the black quill and wordlessly began writing. His shoulders tensed and his unoccupied hand fisted on top of the table the moment the quill started to carve into him. It was an utterly barbaric form of punishment, bordering on torture, and Draco realised in that particular moment just how much he hated her. He'd disliked her before that point of course, but as he sat and watched his Boyfriend getting carved up, he really, truly,  _ hated _ her.

"As for you Mr Malfoy, I believe the phrase 'Friends must be chosen wisely' will be an adequate lesson for you to learn this week. As you see, a quill and ink are also provided on your desk."

Ink? Harry hadn't been given ink. The Blood Quill used the blood of the writer to form the words on the parchment. Looking down at the implements he had been given he noticed that the white quill in front of him was nothing like the long black one that Harry currently had a white-knuckled grip on. She hadn’t given him a Blood quill at all, she’d given him a very plain and ordinary feather quill. A year ago he would have smirked at Harry and carried out his own punishment while laughing at the Gryffindors misfortune. But now, he wanted to share Harry's pain and share the weight of the punishment with him.

“Professor,” Draco took the plunge, he needed to do this  _ with _ Harry, that’s why he hadn’t allowed Harry to shield him from the detention in the first place, “I believe you may have given me the wrong Quill.”

“I’m sorry, Mr Malfoy?” 

“I notice that the quill that you’ve provided Harry, is different to the quill you’ve provided me. I believe our punishment should be the same Professor. How am I ever to learn my lesson if it doesn’t have a chance to properly … sink in.” Draco looked up at her, feigning innocence. Her toad mouth twisted in a delighted smirk. He was well aware that he was repeating the same phrase to her that she had said to Harry in his very first detention.

“Very well Mr Malfoy. If you insist.” She walked around her desk, reached into the top drawer and handed him a quill that was identical to Harry’s. He took the quill and placed the tip of it on the parchment in front of him. He took a deep breath, spared one more glance at Harry from the corner of his eye, and began to write. Draco tried to ignore the desperate green eyes begging with him from the other side of the room, he tried to ignore the flinch of Harry’s shoulders and the way his half healed hand clutched the edge of the desk. At the feel of the first letter slicing deeply into his skin Draco couldn’t help the involuntary stifled gasp that escaped his throat.

“Yes, Mr Malfoy? Something you wish to say?” She was grinning, wide-mouthed and wild-eyed, looking down her nose at him and gloating at his predicament. A predicament he had got himself into.

“No Professor.” He gripped the quill tighter and continued writing. He could have beaten himself over the head with a bludgers bat, he was a Slytherin dammit, how had he allowed himself to act like such a Gryffindor? He knew Harry had been rubbing off on him but he had no idea how much until this moment. What kind of Slytherin not only accepts a punishment when they have a way out of it, but asks for  _ more.  _ He was five or six lines in before he finally looked over at Harry, Umbridge was settled at her desk marking papers, so Draco had half a chance of not getting caught. With just one look at the Gryffindor guilt overrode every single decision he’d made so far. 

Harry was struggling. Not only was he enduring his own punishment but he was also taking the burden of the Oath.

He was pale. His shoulders were tense and shaking. His fists were clenched so hard that Draco was surprised the quill hadn’t been snapped in half from his grip alone. His leg was twitching under the table so much that his knee was practically bouncing up against the underside of the desk, and his teeth were clamped around his bottom lip, desperately preventing himself from making a sound.

I’m sorry. Draco thought. I’m sorry, I’m so fucking sorry. He wanted to throw the quill down. He wanted to refuse to do any more. He wanted to wrap himself around Harry and prevent all of this from happening. But he couldn’t. And it was his fault that Harry was in so much pain. 

His own pain, by comparison, was minor. It felt like there was a cat scratching the back of his hand with one claw, over and over again, annoying, but fairly easy to ignore. His hand moved over the parchment, repeating ‘Friends must be chosen wisely’ over and over again, but his mind was completely spaced out from the actual task at hand. He just wanted Harry to know that he  _ was _ sorry. He was desperate for Harry to know that. To know that his stupid brain had overriden all of his Slytherin teachings in order to do the damn noble thing. He wanted to reach out to him. To wrap his arms around his shoulders and press kisses across his forehead, his cheeks and his jaw. His magic whirled faster inside of him, the feeling was so associated with Harry’s touch that he had to look across to Harry to make sure that he was still sitting there. 

He remembered Herimone’s experiment. Could they siphon magic into each other remotely? It was obvious that Draco couldn’t contain or control something as powerful as Harry’s magic, but could Harry contain Draco’s? They hadn’t tried it, they didn’t want to try it after the disaster of their last experiment. But … maybe ...

Draco reached out again meantally. He imagined the feel of Harry’s skin under his hands, the drag of stubble against the pads of his fingertips. He imagined sliding his hands up Harry’s jaw and around his neck as he so often did when he wanted to pull him into a kiss. Magic pooled in his fingertips, he could feel it tingle under his skin in response to his emotional state. _ In response to Harry. _ He looked over at Harry out of the corner of his eye and he imagined the magic leaving his body, being carried through the air like a wisp of wind, reaching Harry and sinking into his skin.

Nothing happened. No ebb of magical power like Harry had described from their first experiment. No indication from Harry that he had even felt anything. Draco could admit that he was slightly disappointed.

“Ahem.” Umbridge cleared her throat and looked at Draco pointedly. He realised that he had stopped writing and he quickly busied himself with making up for lost time, quickly scribbling a few more lines that made his fingers flex in pain, before continuing his previous pace. 

He tried again, mentally collecting the wind of his magic up in his hands, before pushing, imagining it reaching Harry and curling around him like a cocoon of comfort. I’m sorry, he wanted to say, I’m so sorry. 

Nothing.

He reached deep inside himself, his core was swirling around, barely within his control. He collected as much as he dared to and pushed again. His wrist twisted under the table, unconsciously turning his palm towards Harry, as though he was pushing a physical mass towards him. He pressed on. Trying to find the part of him that was connected to Harry so he had something to channel his magic through.

But still, nothing.

He pulled back. He looked up at Umbridge again, she was still busy at her desk, quite content in the knowledge that she was punishing her students. He looked at Harry, still struggling, still pale, and now a sheen of sweat had sprung up across his brow from the strain of carrying out both of their punishments. Draco felt his heart jump. His world narrowed to Harry, and Harry’s struggle. The most important thing at that very moment was helping Harry. 

And then something left him. He felt it. Almost like he had cast a spell.

Harry looked up sharply. His hand stilled on the parchment for a second, before starting up again at Umbridge’s sickly sweet throat clearing. He had felt it. Draco cheered internally and pushed once again. He imagined his magic sliding around Harry, over his limbs, around his aching hand and across his chest. In an attempt to soothe the pain of the Oath. He had no idea if it was working or not but he had thought he could see Harry’s fists unclench and his shoulders drop slightly. He sighed a breath of relief. Harry had got them both into this mess by kissing him in the Great Hall but Draco had made everything worse, and he was happy that he had been able to help Harry. Even if it was just to comfort him from the pain of the Oath.

Draco had to pull himself away from their connection and concentrated back on his lines after a few minutes. The sting on the back of his hand was persistent now. An aching throb that he couldn’t ignore even if he tried. So he left Harry alone, allowing his magic to settle inside himself once more. He thought he had made a difference, but Harry was so used to hiding his reactions in front of Umbridge that Draco couldn’t be entirely sure. Something had happened on his side of the connection and magic had definitely left him. It was progress towards Hermione’s theory, which he would be sure to tell her next time he saw her.

The wound on his hand was refusing to heal over anymore, leaving the words etched into his pale skin. If he didn’t have such faith in his own healing abilities he would have despaired over the scar it would surely leave. He hadn’t kept track of the time and there was no clock within his view that he could find. Umbridge had probably orchestrated it that way, just another level of torture. All he could tell was that he was coming to the end of his parchment. From the countless essay’s he had done over the years he could fairly accurately guess that it was around a foot and a half long.

“Quills down. You are free to go for this evening. You will return tomorrow at the same time.” Umbridge declared once Draco had reached the bottom of the parchment, almost as though she had been tracking his progress.

Harry threw his quill down and was out of the door before Draco could even pick up his bag. Draco caught up with him as they reached the staircase.

“Harry!”

“Regret it do you Draco?” Harry threw out over his shoulder as he took the stairs two at a time, reaching the top before Draco was even halfway up.

“I-I don’t…?” Harry spun on his heel to face him, the half staircase between them put Harry in the position of looking down at Draco, towering over him in rage.

“She gave you a normal quill, you had an out! But you just had to choose the dangerous option.”

“I’ve already told you that your Gryffindor-ness has rubbed off on me.” Draco tried to smirk and brush it off, as he ascended the rest of the stairs, closing the distance between them.

“This isn’t a joke Draco!” Harry gestured wildly between them, “Your protection isn’t a joke! The Oath isn’t a joke! The pain I feel when you are in danger is  _ not  _ a joke!” 

Harry swore under his breath as a great crunching sound came from the staircase to the right of him, he quickly stepped on it before it could move. It was his only direct path up to the tower, the other routes added another five minutes to his journey, and at that moment he just needed to put space between them.

"Harry!" Draco scrambled to follow, his left foot hitting the bottom step just as it began to move. He scrambled up the rest of the staircase, putting as much distance between himself and the break neck fall that awaited anyone too close to the end. He was sure they were charmed to prevent anyone from actually falling but he was entirely unwilling to test that theory.

“I know it's not a joke.” Draco tried to placate. He did know, but sarcasm was his fall back in awkward situations, if he couldn’t use sarcasm he wouldn’t know what else to say.

“So why didn’t you take the first quill she gave you, why did you ask to be tortured?” The staircase stopped moving and Harry continued to climb the stairs. Knowing Draco was following but not looking back to check. He wanted to get them to solid ground before the staircases decided to move again.

“I needed to-” Draco tried to respond once they had made it to one of the corridors leading to the entrance of Gryffindor tower. 

“To what?! Prove something?! I  _ know _ how strong you are Draco, but sharing the load doesn’t make you any less in my eyes. Why are you acting so … idiotic, you're smarter than this.” Harry whirled around. His hands in fists at his side, the phrase 'I must not tell lies' standing out, stark red against the back of his hand. Draco’s anger flared in response, as it always had whenever he and Harry had squared up to each other.

“So what’s your excuse?” Draco’s eyes narrowed, he’d had enough of being verbally attacked for one night, “You talk about sharing and yet you keep secrets from your friends and the people that love you because you don’t think they’ll look at you the same way.” He rounded on Harry, pointing his finger into Harry’s chest forcefully.

Harry was silent. His jaw clamped shut with a snap.

“I’ve been inside your memories, remember? I know exactly what you’re so desperate to keep from everyone. The famous boy who lived abused by his Muggle family, does Granger know? Does Weasley?” It was like he was tapping into Draco Malfoy from a year ago, only this time he had way more information on Harry's home life than ever before.

“Back off Malfoy. Don’t go there.” Harry spat his name out like a curse, and Draco recoiled from the force of it.

“Don’t you _ dare _ call me Malfoy, Harry. Not after what I’ve done for you.” Draco’s wand flew to his hand and his voice dropped, low and dangerous, “And I’ll not stand for you yelling at me all the time like you do with your Gryffindor friends. If that’s what you expect from this relationship then I’ll walk away right now.” Harry froze. Then he slumped. As though he was a puppet with its strings cut. The anger left him as quickly as it had built. 

“Draco.” Harry sighed a sad and sorry note to his voice, he scrubbed his hands through his hair in frustration, “Fuck. Draco.” He leaned against a wall and sunk down until he was seated on his ankles. He cradled his head in his hands ashamed of himself.

“Will you listen to me now?” Draco asked, he tucked his wand back up his sleeve and crossed his arms.

“I-Yes.”

“I had to share the punishment with you so that everyone would know that you weren’t under a spell or potion. And I needed to share the burden of it, because you need someone to share your burdens sometimes.” Harry nodded, realising that Draco had a point. 

“The Oath was going crazy and there was nothing I could do.” He replied, by way of apology.

“Sometimes I don’t need you to fight my battles.” Draco leaned against the wall next to Harry’s crouching figure.

“I know. But my magic doesn’t always agree.” Harry tilted his head back against the stone, looking up at the ceiling.

“I’m sorry I caused you so much pain Harry. I wish we could take the Oath back, this is like torture for you.”

“It would be easier if I could actually do what the Oath wants and protect you at some point.”

“Maybe, one of these days.” Draco held his hand out to pull Harry up to his feet, “I’m sorry Harry. I truly am. I knew it would cause you pain, but I felt like it was necessary.”

“I’m sorry to you too. You’re Draco to me now, and you’ll always be Draco to me in the future.” Harry kissed his temple softly.

“Old habits die hard. We both said some things that we probably aren’t proud of.” Harry nodded against Draco’s cheek.

“Give me that.” Draco caught Harry’s hand and pointed his wand at the words he had been forced to carve into himself. The healing charm soothed the sting and throb and once again left no trace that he had ever been in detention. Draco pointed at his own hand, healing the words until a vague outline remained.

“You’re stopping there? It might scar.” Harry pressed his lips to the back of Draco’s almost fully healed hand.

“I need something to prove that I was there, or else what was the point? I just have to really hope that I’ve managed to heal it well enough not to leave a scar. It would be terribly ugly wouldn’t it?”

“No. Nothing about you could be ugly.” Draco rolled his eyes, but had to tamp down the smile that threatened to take over. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Had to upload this on my phone so I apologise if there are any glaring mistakes :)


	24. Chapter 24

Harry dropped down onto the sofa in the common room, putting himself firmly between Hermione and Ron who were sat at either end. They were both engrossed in their own activities, Hermione was reviewing the Ancient Runes chapter for her next class, and Ron was flipping through the latest Seeker Weekly and looking fondly at the latest “brooms” that occupied the centrefold (of course it was the brooms he was eyeing up and not the extremely fit female Quidditch players who were wearing a lot less than regulation uniform and were flying back and forth across the two pages provocatively).

“You’re out late, how long did your detention go on for?” Hermione commented, briefly looking up from the heavy textbook to acknowledge his presence.

“Just the normal time.” 

“What happened?” She pushed the book away immediately and turned to face him, one of her legs folding up underneath her so she could sit sideways on the sofa and face him properly. Harry saw Ron following suit on his other side.

“What makes you think something’s up?” He asked innocently.

“Mate, we’ve known you for five years now, I’m pretty sure we know what your ‘somethings-up’ face is.” Ron replied with a barely contained scoff. Harry realised that he did have a point there, he was never any good at disguising his emotions and even less when it concerned his best friends.

“Draco and I…” He ran a hand through his hair nervously, “We kind of got into it, after detention.”

“What did you do this time?” Hermione asked.

“What makes you think  _ I…”  _ The knowing look on Hermione and Ron’s faces was enough to stop his sentence in its tracks, “Right, yeah.... I might have yelled, a little bit.” He winced slightly at his admission, still feeling guilty about how he had gone off at Draco over something that could have been solved with a simple conversation.

“Oh Harry,” Hermione’s expression was sympathetic.

“Umbridge gave him a normal quill and he asked her for a blood quill. The idiot. Then everything kind of spiralled and I called him Malfoy, then he pulled his wand on me … It was a whole thing.” He waved his hand non-committedly and tipped his head back against the back of the sofa so that he didn’t have to look at his friends exchanging knowing looks across him.

“Are you two …?” Hermione began, but she didn’t want to say the words for fear that they might actually be true. She had started to like Draco, she liked how Harry was around him.

“Still together, we’re fine. He did say a couple of things though, that might not be entirely off the mark.” He looked around at the busy common room, “Do you reckon we could speak in private?”

“Let’s go up to the dormitory, Neville, Dean and Seamus are over there so it’ll be empty.” Ron nodded to the rest of the fifth year boys who were playing exploding snap at the other side of the room. Harry smiled at him gratefully and didn’t hesitate to stand up and lead the way upstairs.

It took them a couple of minutes to climb up to the dorm and get settled, Ron sat on the edge of his bed, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees and Hermione perched on the edge of the bed next to Harry. They exchanged furtive glances, but waited patiently for Harry to start talking in his own time.

“Draco mentioned two things to me.” Harry started, his hands wringing together in his lap, he felt his fingers start to get clammy and he hastily wiped them on his trousers before continuing, “He said… that I’ve been a bit...  _ shouty _ this year, especially to you guys.” He didn’t frame it as a question, but he looked to his friends for their confirmation or denial. Although he was all too aware of what they would say, Draco really hadn’t been wrong in his observations.

“Well…” Ron stammered.

“We don’t blame you Harry.” Hermione jumped in. 

“No, course not, you’ve had a lot going on.” Ron continued, “But, yeah, a bit. You got a bit explosive over the summer.”

“But we completely understand of course.” Hermione jumped in once again, quick to soothe any guilt that he might have felt. It didn’t help of course, but Harry appreciated the attempt all the same.

“No, Draco’s right.” Harry nodded to himself, “I’ve been a complete dick to you both. I just keep going off on one and neither of you are to blame for anything. So, _ I am _ sorry, you’re both my best friends and I should be treating you much better.” He ended his speech with a half smile at Ron and a shoulder bump to Hermione. Hermione half sobbed in the back of her throat before throwing herself into his arms and pulling him into an almost bone crushing hug that had Harry wincing.

“We love you Harry.” She said in his ear.

“Yeah mate, what she said.” Ron was grinning at him from across the gap between their beds.

“What was the other thing?” Hermione asked, when she finally managed to pull herself together and settle back down on the bed. She smoothed down her school skirt as she did so and brushed her hair back behind her ears.

“There’s something I haven’t been telling you both.” They exchanged glances again, and Harry picked a particularly worn spot on the carpet a little to the left of him to stare at, so that he wasn’t forced to look either of them in the eye as he told them his biggest secret, “I’m sure you’ve probably worked it out for yourselves. I haven’t really been keeping it a complete secret but I haven’t exactly said it outright either…” He trailed off, buying himself just a little bit more time. But Draco had been right, this was something he needed to tell his best friends, he needed the weight of this secret off his chest and they deserved to know everything. 

Hermione put her hand on his arm in support and he took a deep breath.

“My life with the Dursleys. It was… not good. I mean, it was … Bad. You know about the bars on the window in second year and that I kept asking you to send me some food that summer and the summer after. But, it wasn’t just because I wanted extra treats now and then…” Harry took another deep breath, he hadn’t once said out loud to anyone, “I relied on those food parcels to keep myself alive. They starved me. A lot, most of the time actually. And for eleven years my bedroom was the cupboard under the stairs. They’d lock me in there a lot.” Hermione’s grip had tightened incrementally throughout his confession until her fingers were digging into his hand uncomfortably.

“Draco said I was hiding behind the secret. But it wasn’t anything to do with how I thought you’d react or how you’d see me after you knew. I think I just didn’t want to face up to it, and telling you guys was just admitting to myself that it happened. That it’s still happening.” 

“You don’t need to explain anything to us. We knew it was difficult for you, growing up there.” Ron said and Hermione nodded along. 

“I know I don’t. But you’re my friends, I should be able to talk to you about it.” Hermione practically bowled him onto his back from the force of her next hug. He coughed slightly as the impact of her body knocked the breath out of his lungs, but he was soon relaxing into it and resting his chin on her shoulder in support.

“Draco is really good for you Harry. I never thought I’d say it, but you needed someone who wouldn’t fall over themselves for you and honestly he’s been like a breath of fresh air through our little group.” She righted herself once more and smiled widely at him.

“Thanks Hermione. I think he’s pretty great too, even if it did take us a little while to get to where we are.” He chuckled to himself.

“How did he take the detention?” Ron asked.

“He did great. Healed us both after too. She had him write ‘Friends must be chosen carefully’, what a Bitch.”

“Definitely.” Ron agreed.

“He did something though, I actually think he managed to control this connection between us for a few minutes.” Hermione perked up at that, “I didn’t actually get much of a chance to ask him about it, we had that fight instead. But I think he managed to channel his magic to me, I was struggling a lot with the quill and the Oath going mental at me, and then all of a sudden it was easier. It might not have been him, but it felt like it.” 

“You need to ask him how he did it. Whatever he did could be the key to finally working out what’s between you two.” Hermione said.

“Yeah sure. I’ll write to him about it tonight. And ... Just, thanks you know, for everything.” He looked between Ron and Hermione and smiled, “Both of you.”

Hermione's sympathetic response was halted by the dorm room door banging open and the rest of the Gryffindor fifth years filing through.

“I swear you’ve tampered with that set Seamus.” Dean argued, “There’s no way that it wouldn’t explode on you even once.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, I usually make things explode, not stop them from exploding.” He defended.

“I’m sure I have another set in here somewhere.” Neville pitched in, as he flung his trunk open and started to dig through it to find his spare deck of cards.

“How come she’s allowed up here when we’re not allowed in theirs.” Seamus complained, throwing himself onto his bed and nodding towards Hermione who was still sitting on the edge of Harry’s bed.

“ _ She _ has a name,” Hermione bristled, “And I’m hardly likely to take advantage of any of you. But I can see where I’m not wanted.” She stood up and headed straight for the door, looking back only when she was already halfway out of the room, “You should all probably get some sleep, we have Potions first thing after all.” 

“Potions first thing,” Seamus mocked, but all it got him was a pillow to the face courtesy of Ron. 

“Hey.” Ron warned, “You know she’s right. Potions with the bloody Slytherins, you’d have thought they’d have learnt that wasn’t a good idea by now.”

“Potions hasn’t been that bad recently.” Harry pointed out.

“Only because you get to sit next to that bloody Boyfriend of yours.” Ron laughed, “He’s the best Potions student in the entire year, you’re cruising your way to an easy O.”

Harry threw one of his pillows in Ron's face, following it up with a minor stinging hex that Ron just laughed off. 

“Snape’s still a bloody knob though. But it helps when no ones throwing shit into the cauldron.” Harry put his pillow back on his bed and kicked off his shoes to start getting ready for bed.

“So, we know you said you and Malfoy were a thing. But just … how?” Dean asked, curiosity getting the better of him.

“I dunno, he’s different. I think he’s kinda cute these days.” Harry shrugged, and a small smile spread over his face at the thought of Draco’s cute smile and nice eyes.

“Cute?!” The three over boys exclaimed, each looking various levels of horrified.

“You’ll get over it once you’ve walked in on them snogging five times a day.” Ron shrugged and laughed at their friends' reactions, earning another pillow to the face from Harry, “Honestly, attached at the mouths all Christmas they were.”

“It wasn’t five times a day.” Harry sulked.

“Mate, you woke up half the house at one point.”

“You’re a fucking dick Ron!” Harry shouted at him as the redhead was disappearing through the door to the bathroom.

“I think you’ll find Harry, that you’re the one fucking a dick!” The response was juvenile, but it was good enough for a handful of fifteen year old boys to get a laugh out of.

_ Goodnight  _ Harry wrote to Draco a little later that evening when he was settled in bed, and the darkness of the dormitory surrounded everything but the small Lumos at the tip of his wand,  _ I love you  _

_ Goodnight Gryffindor. Love you too I suppose.  _

_ You definitely do.  _

_ Go to sleep idiot. _

Harry grinned. He tucked his wand under his pillow and placed the journal, quill and his glasses on his bedside table. He fell asleep to dreams of pale limbs, grey eyes and pink lips.


	25. Chapter 25

“Harry hands!” Draco warned him again, when his hands once again threatened to slide up and under Draco’s shirt. Draco’s mouth was barely a centimetre away from Harry’s, and he was panting hot gusts of air against Harry’s lips, both from the long minutes of semi-restricted air flow, and the heat that filled him. Harry groaned by way of protest, but returned his hands to rest lightly on Draco’s hips, “The rest of the DA will be here any minute.”

“They’ll live.” Harry said, before pulling Draco back into a kiss. 

They were standing in the middle of the Room of Requirement, having got there early to “set up the room”, as Harry liked to call it, or “make out” in Draco’s eyes. There really wasn’t much to set up when you had a magic room that gave you anything you needed.

“All of your friends are going to walk through that door and see you attached to me, hardly a good first impression on my part.” Harry hummed, but dragged him into another kiss in lieu of actually answering him with any form of words.

“They know who you are.” Harry murmured back once he’d finally decided to remove his tongue from Draco’s mouth.

“And they all hate me. Even more need for a good impression.” Harry’s nose was brushing against his and Draco had to stop himself from sinking back into the embrace.

“Thought you didn’t care what people thought? Thought you were above all that?”

“I am.” Draco lied, “ _ Obviously _ . A Malfoy doesn’t need to gain favour, we command it.”

“You can command me any day, Darling.” Harry teased before catching him in another kiss.

“Blimey Ron, you weren’t kidding!” Seamus’s loud exclamation had them jumping away from each other in surprise. Seeing that it was only Ron with the fifth year Gryffindor boys and Hermione, Harry just laughed and pulled Draco back into his side with an arm around his shoulders. He pressed one last kiss to Draco’s temple before allowing him to escape and put an appropriate amount of distance between them.

“Hey guys. Nice to finally see you here Seamus.” Harry said, as he clapped a hand on Seamus’s shoulder in greeting. It seemed that the Finnegan’s had come to their senses over the Christmas period and Seamus had greeted Harry back after the break with an apology and an olive branch. Harry had accepted his apology easily and invited him to the next DA meeting. He was glad that their dorm room was finally conflict free, it made for a much better atmosphere.

“Took me long enough, right?” He grinned but clasped Harry’s hand in his own in a firm and friendly hand shake.

“We’ve covered the basics, Expelliarmus, Stupefy, Reducto, for example, I think you'll be able to pick up on those fairly easily. The difficult one is the Patronus Charm. But I can work on that with you one-on-one if you want, so you can catch up quickly.”

“I need that too.” Draco admitted from next to him, his jaw clenched.

“I thought you would have had no problem with it, you’re plenty powerful enough.” Harry commented.

“I’m sure, if I had the chance to be taught it.”

“I’ll get you both casting a corporeal Patronus in no time.” Harry promised as the rest of the group started filing in. 

Two or three of them arrived every few minutes, in an attempt to throw Umbridge off. Some even appeared at random doorways around the room that appeared then disappeared instantly. Draco tried to ignore the looks he was getting. Some were curious and questioning, but most were hostile and glaring. He simply stood at the edge of the room, wand dangling from his fingertips in a completely non-threatening stance, but ready should someone decide to take his presence there as a personal insult. 

He watched Harry move through the students, greeting them pleasantly, asking them how their break was. Draco realised that Harry’s whole persona had shifted in front of his eyes once again. Harry was so easily able to switch between bumbling student barely scraping through his exams, to Quidditch extraordinaire, to golden boy hero, and this was another one to add to the list, Teacher. Watching him now, greeting his students, Draco was stunned that Harry had any doubts at all about his ability to lead.

“Right, erm, thank you all for being here today. I know it’s the beginning of term but I wanted to make sure we got one meeting in before Quidditch kicked off again, and scheduling started to get difficult. I think I should address the elephant in the room,” Harry looked directly at Draco, and the whispers started again, “Draco has agreed to join our group and-”

“Why?” A random Ravenclaw boy with brown hair shouted.

“Yeah, we don’t want any Slytherin scum in here.” A Hufflepuff agreed. Draco gripped his wand tighter but kept his face a blank slate, unwilling to let any of them know that they’d got to him.

“Fucking Death Eater.” Came another shout.

“Filipendo!” Came from Harry at the same time Hermione’s “Langlock.” landed. The Hufflepuff student was knocked down onto his back and his tongue was glued to the roof of his mouth from the combined curses. Draco didn’t see any reason to stay at the back of the room after that, he weaved his way through the students to stand by the side of the Fourth year. He sneered down at him, wand grasped tightly in his hand.

“Finite.” He cast and continued forward until he stood at Harry’s side with Ron and Hermione.

“Goldstein, Corner, I won’t stand for anyone insulting Draco.” Harry said with his arms crossed resolutely.

“You used to be on our side Harry, what changed?”

“Draco has denounced Voldemort-” A collective shiver travelled through the room, “And pledged his life to the light side, leaving his parents and his home without knowing if he’ll ever be able to return. How many of you have made that kind of sacrifice?”

“But why?” Cho asked from the front row.

“I’m sure you’re all well aware of our relationship. There’s no ulterior motive or backhanded attempts to gain favour with You-Know-Who as the rumours may have you believe. I have chosen Harry, as the rest of you have, and I believe in his abilities above all else.” Draco spoke, clearly and calmly. Harry smiled at him before turning to look at his friends and students.

“You don’t have to be friends, but I expect you to work together.” He looked at the faces of the students looking up at him, “And you’ll have plenty of time to get along, because Draco’s here to teach us basic healing charms.” Draco ignored the excited tittering.

“Basic, but not easy.” Draco commented, “But Harry has faith in you all, and if most of you are able to conjure a Patronus I will expect his faith to not be displaced.” The warning in his voice was clear, fail and you’ll disappoint Harry.

“I want anyone who has an injury to raise their hand. Anything, a small bruise? A scratch?” Some of the students raised their hands, including the Weasley twins who had distinct writing across the back of their left hands, “Congratulations. You all just became our test subjects.”

Draco started his little lesson by forcing Harry to sit down on a chair in front of everyone, and encouraged him to pull the leg of his trousers up. He had walked into his trunk while on the way to the bathroom in the middle of the night, and had spent a good five minutes that morning complaining in the journal about how much it was going to bruise. Draco had refused to heal it earlier for the sole purpose of using him for a demonstration.

“The most simple one I can show you today is Episkey.” Draco pointed his wand at Harry’s lower leg and cast ‘Episkey’ clearly so that the whole room could see what he was doing, “This works on anything minor, like bruises, small cuts and small bone fractures, nose, toes, fingers etcetera. It’s important to assess what the injury is before starting to heal it, if you use the wrong spell for the wrong injury then you could be making the situation worse. Imagine healing a cut externally, only to find out that there’s an artery you missed and the person is bleeding internally, this can cause someone to die within minutes.” The other students clamoured closer to see what he was doing, and he was surprised that they were actually listening to him. Harry’s word, once again, held more weight than the Gryffindor had previously realised.

“There are three spells in total that I will try to teach you, Episkey as demonstrated, Ferula, which binds broken bones, and the hardest Vulners Sanentur, which is for deep lacerations. None of these are to be cast lightly or without care. Healing someone is harder than it looks. It requires a level of concentration which is infinitely difficult to maintain while in the middle of a battle. In these situations, my advice would be to patch up a wound and get to safety before attempting a healing spell.” 

“Right,” Harry said, once Draco had finished his demonstration, “Those of you with something to be healed up here in front. Everyone else form a line, one at a time you’ll be attempting to heal these guys using Episkey. Draco will be monitoring wand movements. The session’s over when everyone’s suitably healed, once you’ve had a go pair off and practice what we went over last term.” Harry called over the excited tittering of conversation.

The students fell over themselves to follow his instructions. The six people who had volunteered stood at the front of the room next to Draco and Harry, the others formed a neat line. One by one they came up to the front, and attempted Episkey. Draco had to jump in once or twice to rearrange someone's grip, or repeat the wand movement for them to copy. As Draco had expected Neville Longbottom was one of the students who needed the most instruction. When it was Neville’s turn he approached the Gryffindor Chaser, Angelina Johnson, with his arm outstretched and his wand shaking in his grip.

“Longbottom,” Draco approached him, “You need to relax your grip, healing is about finesse. Now circle your wand over the area.

“Apixie.” He mumbled quickly before backing away.

“Longbottom. Come here.” Draco motioned for him to come back, and placed him once again in front of the Chaser who raised her eyebrow but chose not to comment. She raised her arm again to show off the bruise on her upper arm given to her by an errant practice bludger, “Now, hold your wand up.” Neville’s grip was tight, “Softer. Like it’s a quill.” His fingers relaxed slightly, “Even more than that. Relax.” Neville took a deep breath and squared his shoulders, “Good. Now repeat after me. Episkey.” Out of the corner of his eye Draco could see Harry keeping the line moving with the other volunteers.

“Apixie.”

“Ep-is-key.” Draco corrected.

“Episkey.”

“What’s the wand movement?” Neville moved his wand in a circular motion, “Now concentrate on her arm. Do the wand movement and say the incantation when you are ready. Remember concentration is key.” Neville raised his wand but hesitated.

“The only bad thing that can happen is it not working. You aren’t going to main her, the Gryffindor team will have all of its players for the next Quidditch match I promise.” Johnson cracked a grin at that. Draco could see one of the Weasley twins high-fiving Luna for healing whatever Umbridge had made him write on the back of his hand.

“Episkey.” Neville cast after a good few seconds of staring at the bruise on the girl's arm. It shrunk a little around the edges, and she even turned to look at it, poking it with a finger a few times. 

“It’s not sore anymore.” She said with a smile.

“Well done Longbottom.” Draco clapped him on the shoulder before motioning the next person to come forward. Neville walked away with a grin on his face while the other students patted him on the back and congratulated him on his progress. Harry grinned brightly and approached him from where he had sent Ginny off to practice with Luna. Harry put a hand on his shoulder and leaned in close.

“We're definitely having sex tonight.” Harry whispered, his lips just barely brushing the shell of his ear.

“Watching me with Longbottom gets you randy?” Draco raised an eyebrow.

“Watching you be kind and considerate gets me randy.”

“Whatever floats your boat Potter, as long as it gets me laid I’m all for it.” Harry grinned at him again before pulling away from their indecent conversation to help with one of the Patil twins incantations. Draco watched after him for a second before realising that Finnegan had started poking the bruise on Johnson's arm with the tip of his wand.

“Stop that, knowing your reputation  _ you’re _ more likely to blow her up than Longbottom.” At Draco’s comment the Chaser batted Seamus’s wand away and glared at him until he huffed and walked away.

By the end of the session the six volunteers had been mostly healed. There was still a faint outline on the back of one of the Weasleys hands that no one else had managed to heal fully, so Draco healed him quickly, answering the twins grin with a noncommittal shrug. Harry dismissed everyone with a happy smile and a few ‘well dones’ chucked in for good measure, leaving just him and Draco in the room. 

“Now that I have you alone.” Harry approached him with sure steps. He was face to face with Draco within seconds and his mouth was sliding over Dracos without any preamble. Draco’s body heated within seconds and the swirling lick of his magic curled happily under the surface of his skin. He responded enthusiastically, licking his way into Harry’s mouth and fisting his hands in Harry’s Gryffindor tie. 

“Expecto Patronum.” Harry pulled his mouth away to cast. The familiar stag burst out of the end of his wand in a stream of glowing white light, it circled them a couple of times and lowered it’s head before disappearing into thin air.

“Every time you manage to produce something you’ll get a snog. You make a corporeal one and you can top.”

“What if it takes me days to produce a full one?”

“Then we don’t have sex for a few days.” Harry laughed, “But I have a feeling you’ll catch on pretty quickly.”

“Fine.” Draco huffed but pulled his wand out of his robe anyway and pulled himself together, squaring his shoulders and turning round so that Harry was just a warmth against his back, “How do I do it?”

“Think of your happiest memory, concentrate on that happiness as hard as you can, and then say Expecto Patronum. You don’t need to do any particular wand movements, just concentrate on the memory.”

He thought of Harry. Of the first time they’d kissed. The first time they’d slept together. Kissing him in the Great Hall in front of half the school.

“Expecto Patronum.” Draco cast. But nothing happened.

“Concentrate. Try again.” 

Harry's eyes, Harry’s mouth, those stupid glasses, that stupid yet adorable hair.

“Expecto Patronum.” A wisp escaped the end of his wand but it still faded within seconds. 

Harry cupped his jaw and pressed a simple but lingering kiss to his lips.

“Again Draco. Think of something powerful.”

Powerful? What could be more powerful than his memories of Harry? 

“I don’t know what else.” He admitted.

“How about...maybe not something you remember, but something you want? The first memory that worked for me was imagining my parents, imagining a life I could have had with them.”

Draco thought for a couple of minutes. He wanted to live, he wanted to survive the war. He wanted to be with Harry for a very long time. It sounded ridiculous, people don’t grow up and marry their school boyfriends. But that’s what Draco wanted. 

“Expecto Patronum.” The light that came from his wand was still a wisp, no where near the stag that Harry had conjured, but it held a shape in front of him like a shield of smoke.

“Brilliant Draco.” Harry kissed him again, “But whatever you’re thinking of needs to be even more powerful than that.”

“I don’t know how anything could be better than that.” He mumbled.

“You’ll think of something.” Harry kissed him again.


	26. Chapter 26

Draco was, for lack of a better phrase, gagging for it. 

Harry had stuck true to his word. He was more than happy to corner Draco between classes and snog the life out of him, pressing his hips to Draco’s and his knee up against Draco’s crotch. But was entirely unwilling to allow it to get far enough for Draco to get off. It had been days. And Draco was still unable to conjure a corporeal Patronus. In that time Draco had finished his week of detentions with Umbridge, but he was still meeting Harry after his detentions with the toad to heal and kiss his hand better. They had made progress with their connection as well, they had managed to fit in one more evening with Hermione, and they had discovered that while Harry’s magic was far too difficult for Draco to control, Harry was able to hold Draco’s without too much issue. He hadn’t quite managed to connect with Harry again without touching him first, like he had in their very first detention together. They had come to the conclusion that Harry’s physical pain had been a major factor in his motivation the first time, which was extremely difficult to replicate without someone coming along and breaking Harry’s arm or something.

School life had settled around them. They were well on their way into the second week of term now, the news of their relationship was starting to filter out of the gossip sphere, no longer being the latest news or really anything that most people were bothered about. The Slytherins still glared at him on an almost daily basis, and a few people went a bit green around the gills when they spotted Harry and Draco being casually affectionate. Although, Harry had said that it was probably more because they were homophobic muggleborns than because they had something personal against either of them. Their homework was starting to pile up as well, having made it out of the grace period that the Professors allowed them in the first week of term, they had been assigned three feet in Potions on the Draught of the Living Death, three feet in History of Magic on the Goblin rebellions of the 1500’s, two feet in Transfiguration and a foot on the most complicated equations Draco had ever seen in Arithmancy. He’d already decided to corral Hermione into helping him with those. She was stronger in Arithmancy, but he’d be able to help her with Ancient Runes in return because he was sure that he was outstripping her in that class by at least a handful of marks.

Harry had been working on his mind barriers every night as well, and was able to throw up his safe place quickly enough for all of his most private memories to be hidden away before anyone could rifle through them. He still had a lot of work to do in that regard, but Draco had assured him that he was doing great, and had cemented that fact by kissing him within an inch of his life.

Everything seemed to be going well, until Snape had held Harry back one day at the end of Potions and had informed him that he was to attend ‘Remedial Potions’ aka Occlumency lessons the evening after his last detention with Umbridge. The very idea of teaching Harry anything useful seemed to make his lip curl and had him acting extra nasty to Harry in their next lesson. Draco had to stop himself from glaring at his head of house every time he descended on Harry for a mistake that at least five other students were making. How the tables had turned, he would never have expected to be fiercely protective over the golden boy at this point last year.

“Expecto Patronum.” Draco cast for the hundredth time. His Patronus Charm continued to be a hovering white wisp of smoke. He wanted to throw his wand across the room in frustration. Harry was the best thing that had happened to him, if his memories of Harry hadn’t been enough then he didn’t think anything else would work. He had tried various others, hoping that something would just spark inside of him, but his memory of making the Slytherin Quidditch team had failed, as had the memory of being sorted into Slytherin house. He noticed Harry appearing in the doorway of the Room of Requirement.

“I fucking suck. I’m never going to get this.”

“You’re doing just fine, you can’t expect to master this in a week.” He kissed Draco on the head, “I’ve come to see if you want to go down to dinner together. I’ve got my last detention with Umbridge tonight and we haven’t seen each other much today.”

At Draco’s agreement Harry was threading their fingers together and dragging Draco out of the room with him. His grin was soft, easy, and directed wholly at Draco. He was captivating, and Draco could hardly tear his eyes away from Harry’s wide grin, bright green eyes and messy black hair as he led the way down the corridors. He was chatting random nonsense about someone knocking a pile of books into the fire in the Gryffindor common room and having to face the wrath of Madam Pince, but Draco was hardly paying attention to the words coming out of his mouth, he was too entranced with the rest of him. Draco just clutched his hand tighter in response and allowed himself to be led down to the Entrance Hall without complaint. They joined the throngs of students filing slowly into the Great Hall, having caught the bulk of students who were trying to reach the hall before the food appeared. For this very reason Draco always liked being five minutes late to every meal time. 

Harry let go of his hand so they could snake their way single file towards the entrance, pushing past the groups of people who were loitering about waiting for their friends. One moment he was smiling at Harry who had glanced over his shoulder to make sure Draco was following, the next moment he was flying across the Entrance Hall. 

Everything seemed to happen at once.

The back of his head hit the stone floor with a crack. Someone screamed. The students started pushing against each other to get to the relative safety of the Great Hall. And then Harry. 

His magic cracked like muggle electricity over the sound of clamouring and panicked Hogwarts students. He appeared in Draco’s eye line, hovering above him, and cast a protective charm over his prone form before turning his wand on the mass of students. They froze instantly, staring up at The-Boy-Who-Lived who seemed to tower over everyone in his rage.

“Who did it?” Harry asked. His voice was barely a hiss. But everyone heard him, his voice carrying dangerously over the silence.

“Who did it?” He asked again, forcefully. His magic cracked around him like the sound of a whip. 

“I’m okay.” Draco tried to reply. But the words gurgled in his throat. He must have hit his head really hard because he had to be imagining the streams of lightning escaping from Harry, as he stood protectively over Draco. His eyes were spitting green fire, also something that Draco was sure he was imagining and his power commanded silence from everyone in front of him. Draco tried to raise his arm and attempted to tug on Harry’s robes to let him know he was fine, since his voice wasn’t cooperating, but when he managed to raise one arm all he could focus on was the shiny red liquid sticking to his fingertips.

He regarded it closely, lifting his hand up to his face so he could properly inspect what it was, but the pain in his head made it hard to focus. He wondered if he had been carrying a bottle of red ink on him, but he usually wasn’t so careless with such things. He was sure he wouldn’t have put a bottle of ink in his pocket rather than his bag. 

“Don’t move Draco.” Hermione was falling to her knees beside him, bypassing Harry’s ward easily, which goes to show just how much the Gryffindor trusted her. 

Harry still stood with his wand outstretched. His eyes were blazing. His raw and uncontrolled magic reminding everyone just how he’d managed to survive and escape a face-to-face encounter with Voldemort. He looked furious.

“I’m okay.” He tried to say again. But still nothing of any use escaped his mouth.

“I can’t heal you Draco, I can’t tell how bad it is. Pomfrey is on her way.” Hermione gripped his hand. He tried to stop her, so she wouldn’t be covered in ink too but then he noticed her knees were already in the puddle next to him, her knee high white socks staining instantly on contact. But she didn’t seem to care, just gripped his hand tighter and pressed her bundled up robe to his chest. 

“Heal?” He tried to say again. His head hurt, a lot, but surely once the ringing in his ears had stopped he’d be able to stand up?

“I’m sorry, this will hurt.” And she pressed down hard on the robe directly over his chest until he could barely breathe, “Someone help!”

Pansy was rushing to his other side. Her hands wringing in worry.

“Tie your tie around his arm and hold it up high.”

What a lot of fuss, he thought. He tried to seek out Harry’s eyes again. The Gryffindor was standing over him still, his wand pointed directly at someone in a Slytherin robe, the ropes from Incarcerous wrapped around the students prone form.

“Draco, I need you to look at me.” He turned his head to look at Hermione, the movement causing his eyes to cross and his head to throb.

“He’s lost a lot of blood.” She said to Pansy, who was holding his arm tightly.

Blood? But he wasn’t … Oh. It wasn’t ink. But that must mean that the red that was slowly making its way down to Hermione’s toes was his blood. She was right then, that really was an awful lot of blood to lose.

“Harry! We can’t move him. We need Pomfrey  _ now _ .” 

Draco finally noticed that his chest was hurting from more than just her hands pressing down. And his arm was starting to go numb from the tie wrapped tightly around his upper arm. He watched the stag Patronus tearing up the staircase and felt Harry falling to his knees close to his head.

“Darling,” Harry said as his hands came down to cup either side of Draco’s head, holding him still. Harry’s face drifted into his vision, even blurry and unfocused Draco could still make out those round framed glasses and his bright green eyes.

“I love you.” Draco managed to murmur. It came out breathy and stuttered, but it was the truth.

“No, no, shush Draco, you’re not dying.” 

“I know.” Draco replied, he would have rolled his eyes, if he had the ability to make any part of his body do what he wanted it to.

“Out of the way now.” Madam Pomfrey was pushing through the students, Dumbledore, Snape and McGonagall following quickly on her heels.

“It was Diffindo.” Hermione explained as the Matron came to her knees beside the four of them, “It slashed across his chest and his arm and knocked him across the hall, he hit his head too.”

Diffindo, Draco thought, that would explain the burning feeling in his chest.

“He did it.” Harry said nodding towards the unconscious Slytherin, his hands still cool and stable against Draco’s temples, “His wand is here.” 

Draco just looked up at Harry. Wonderful, perfect Harry. Harry who had jumped to defend Draco at a moments notice, who had promised to do exactly that months ago with so much sincerity that their magics had accepted it as a magically binding Oath. This moment, even though he was lying half dead on the floor, would make the most perfect Patronus memory. This was Harry, in all of his furious, powerful glory. He hardly noticed Dumbledore and the heads of house dispersing the crowd. He hardly noticed the robe being taken from his chest and his own robes being sliced open to reveal his blood soaked shirt, he just looked up at Harry.

When he was finally moved, through the use of a very careful Mobilicorpus, he reached for Harry with the arm that wasn’t currently being held in a stasis charm. Harry followed along dutifully, barely offering the Professors a glance, never mind asking them for permission. Draco watched Hermione, with her red knees and blood stained socks, stand up and help Pansy to her feet. He watched McGonagall pointing her wand at them and the floor, cleaning up all of his spilled blood, leaving the two girls with no more than the memory of his slick blood on their hands. And then as he was floating up the stairs, he saw Umbridge, standing on the bottom step of the Entrance Hall, her hands clasped in front of her as though she had no care in the world.

“Don’t forget Mr Potter, detention at 8 o’clock. I’ll not stand for tardiness, not even in these circumstances.” Harry glanced at her but proceeded to follow Draco’s floating body up the stairs, his teeth ground together in anger but he didn’t speak a word.

“I think I’m going to pass out now.” Draco said into the silence between the Professors and Harry.

“Go to sleep, Darling. You’ll be better when you wake up.” Despite his slow moving body Harry was still able to caress his cheek tenderly, and Draco passed out to the all encompassing sight of Harry’s impossibly green eyes.


	27. Chapter 27

Everything hurt. Draco decided the instant he became aware of himself. Especially his head. 

The bright light that assaulted his vision really didn’t help his current situation. He groaned out loud and threw his right arm over his eyes, his left arm felt astonishingly heavy so he decided to leave that one resting on the bed next to him.

There was a whispered spell to dim the lights above him, and the sound of someone pulling the curtains closed around his bed. It was enough for him to be able to open his eyes and blink up at the ceiling above him. He was in the Hospital wing. But … Why? He knew he was in a lot of pain, so obviously something bad had happened.

“Hey,” He turned his head to the voice. Harry.

“What time is it?”

“It’s 10am, you’ve been out all night.”

“What happened?” He asked, as soon as he was able to focus on the dark haired Gryffindor who was sat in the uncomfortable hospital chair next to him. 

“Someone hit you with Diffindo as we were walking to the Great Hall. Do you remember?” Harry leaned forward and rested his elbows on the edge of the bed.

“I-” He remembered a fierce and protective Harry hovering over him with glowing green eyes... But not much more, “No.”

“That’s okay, you have a head injury. Pomfrey says that you might have gaps in your memory, she said you might remember in a couple of days or you might not remember at all. You’re doing okay though.” His tone was gentle, “We’re lucky you remember as much as you do. Head injuries are difficult to heal.”

“Who?” Draco pressed again, well aware that Harry was skirting around the subject.

“It was a Slytherin, his father’s a low level Death Eater, he wanted to gain favour to move up the ranks. He was aiming for your neck but someone bumped into him at the last second and he ended up catching you across your chest and your left arm, but you still lost a lot of blood. Hermione saved your life. I couldn’t-” Harry’s voice broke slightly, “I just needed to get to whoever did it to you, but I should have helped you first.” He looked guilty, “I’m sorry.”

“Did you get him?” Draco asked flatly, but he suddenly had an image of Harry standing over a rope bound Slytherin student and he realised he already knew the answer.

“Yeah, I did. He’s at the Ministry, it was attempted murder at the very least.” Harry reached over and took his hand, “I should have helped you first.” He murmured again, hanging his head in shame.

“You got rid of the immediate threat,” Draco squeezed his fingers, “I’d say you did just fine. Guess you finally got to protect me."

“I was still too late.”

“You don’t have eyes in the back of your head, nor can you read minds. Without you I would have been completely unprotected. Hermione, she saved my life?”

“Yes, she stopped you from bleeding out and Pansy helped too.”

“Remind me to send them some flowers.” Harry grinned at him. Draco didn’t acknowledge it, he was too busy looking down at the bandage on his arm and picking around the edge of it, trying to see what was hidden under the dressings.

“Ron and Hermione just left, and Blaise and Pansy were in this morning. They brought you some frightfully expensive chocolates.” Harry pointed down to the table at the end of his bed and he spotted the black box with the familiar french logo. Harry was right of course, they were frightfully expensive, they were also his favourites and his ‘gimme’ motion made Harry chuckle but he handed the chocolates over without a word.

“So why am I still bandaged up? Surely Pomfrey can heal a Diffindo in a heartbeat?” Draco asked, after he had consumed his third truffle with a hum of pleasure and a lick of his lips.

“It was a deep one, she wanted to heal you in stages to make sure she wasn’t healing over anything that would cause an issue later on. Your arm’s pretty much done, looks just like a deep scratch now, the bruise is from the makeshift tourniquet.” Draco looked at his arm again, and he finally noticed the green and purple bruise barely peeking out from under the stark white cotton, “And you have another day of blood replenishers before you can be released.”

“Will it scar?” Draco asked, feeling very vain for asking but also really not looking forward to seeing a great ugly scar right across his body for the rest of his life.

Harry hesitated in his response. “Yes,” He finally said, “Possibly… Probably.”

“Just great.” Draco huffed with a frown.

“I think it’ll just make you look dangerous and dashing, nothing to be ashamed of.”

“Easy for you to say.” Draco huffed again, and attempted to cross his arms impetuously, before remembering that he still couldn’t move his left arm fully, as bandaged as it was. Harry reached out and patted him on the hand in fake sympathy, Draco’s eyes narrowed in on the familiar phrase etched into the back of his hand.

“She made you go to detention?” Draco asked, as he grabbed Harry’s hand and examined it, “Some of the DA will be able to heal this you know, Luna was really good last time.” He brushed his thumb gently over the wound, tracing each letter with reverence.

“I haven’t really had the chance to find her.”

“You’ve been in here all night? What about lessons?” 

“Hermione and Ron sat with you while I went for my detention. But apart from that…” Harry shrugged, “I didn’t want you to wake up alone. I thought you’d be a little disorientated.”

“You’re an idiot,” Draco kissed his knuckles, “But I love you.”

“You have Occlumency tonight?” Draco asked a few minutes later after a companionable silence, tilting his head to the side so he could glance at half of Harry’s face. Harry had managed to convince Draco to let him climb up on the bed behind him. So they sat with Draco’s back against Harry’s chest and Harry’s legs at either side of Draco’s body.

“Yeah. But then I’ll be back up afterwards to walk you down to Slytherin. I don’t really want you walking around by yourself right now.”

“I’m pretty sure I’ll be fine.” Draco half-heartedly argued, but secretly very thankful that Harry had suggested it. He didn’t have any inclination to wander around anyway but it saved him from having to beg Harry to stay with him.

“Well, it’ll give me peace of mind.” Harry shrugged again and kissed Draco’s shoulder once more, “I should go get us both some lunch. Show my face so that people know I’m still alive.”

“You do that. Bring me back some dessert, I have an awful sweet tooth today. And then go to lessons, I need someone to bring me my homework, I’m not falling behind because of your overprotective Gryffindor-ness.”

“Of course, Darling.” Harry teased but climbed off the bed and pulled his shoes on quickly.

x

That night had Harry stumbling out of Snape's office in exhaustion. The brutal way the Potions Master had ripped through his mind had completely drained him, it was nothing like the way Draco had been showing him. He understood that Draco was probably taking it slower, giving him the chance to build his defences up, rather than rifling through every memory possible. And he understood that if he were placed in front of Voldemort he wouldn’t be given the chance to protect himself. But you didn’t chuck an absolute novice into the Great Lake and expect them to swim to shore without teaching them how to swim first. He made his way up to the hospital wing slowly, feeling as though he had been hit with the jelly-legs jinx every time he reached the top of a staircase. His head was pounding and he needed to squint to prevent extra light from aggravating his already thumping head. The pain from his scar really wasn’t making the situation any easier to deal with.

He practically fell through the hospital wing doors, but the knowledge that he could sit down was enough for him to make it to the chair by the side of Draco’s bed without collapsing. The moment he pulled the curtains back Draco looked up at him with a smile, but it fell from his lips when he realised what condition Harry was in.

“What the hell happened to you?” Draco asked, his free hand running over Harry's head and shoulders where the Gryffindor had face-planted the mattress next to his legs.

“Snape. Occlumency. Head hurts.” He said into the mattress.

“What did he do?” Draco’s tone was fierce.

“Nothing. He just kept casting Legilimens, whether I could keep up or not.”

“He didn’t teach you anything?”

“Ha.” Harry replied sarcastically.

“Did he even check what progress we had made?” Harry shook his head, face still hidden in the white sheets. Draco’s hand was rubbing his neck, hitting that perfect spot that would relieve some of the pressure in his skull.

“So he expected you to throw him off, a fairly powerful and practiced Legilimens, after only two weeks of practice?”

“Seems like it.” Harry shrugged, groaning as Draco’s hand disappeared into his messy hair, scritching at his scalp.

“What a dick!”

“I didn’t think it was right either, but you know he doesn’t listen to me. I’ve never felt this bad after one of our sessions.”

“No, I expect not. I’m trying to actually teach you what to do rather than just ripping into you and expecting you to know.” He paused for a second before looking at the box of chocolates in front of him, he only had two left and he was fully planning on saving them for the next morning as a pick-me-up before he had to return to lessons, “Here.” He nudged Harry’s head with the corner of the box. Harry peeked up and took the box gratefully, popping one into his mouth as he sat up straight in the chair. Draco’s hands had worked wonders on his headache, and being able to sit down for more than thirty seconds did wonders for his jelly legs problem.

“I can see why these are your favourites.” Harry groaned as the rich chocolate flavour melted in his mouth.

“Yes, well, give yourself five minutes to pull yourself together. Because you said you’d walk me down to Slytherin.”

“Fine, but once I get there I might have to stay for a bit. I’m fucking exhausted.”

Harry helped Draco gather up the books that Hermione had dropped off over lunch, and the chocolate frogs that Ron had shoved into his hands without looking him in the eye. Harry took his hand in the corridor and they walked side by side in silence. It wasn’t until they reached the first floor when Harry opened his mouth to speak. He snapped it closed almost immediately.

“Spit it out.” Draco said, with an elbow aimed at Harry’s side.

“I was really worried.” Harry admitted in a low tone.

“A Diffindo isn’t going to wipe  _ me  _ out, Potter.” 

“No, not that. Well, a little that. But I was mostly worried about how much you’d remember.”

“What do you mean?” Draco asked, his hand tightening on Harry’s hand.

“Pomfrey said, with this level of head injury, you could miss a few minutes, a few months, or even a few years. She said the conscious mind is fickle.”

“You were worried I’d forget about you?” Harry didn’t respond, just stared at the floor in front of them as they walked, “Oh, Harry.” Draco pulled him to a stop and stepped close.

He pulled Harry into a hug and held him tightly to his chest.

“Even if I had forgotten how much you meant to me. My magic would still react this way.” He cupped the back of Harry’s neck, and his magic kissed against Harry’s skin , “And I know I would be obsessed with finding out why. So I know I would have found my way back to you eventually.” He kissed Harry solidly on the mouth, “I know I would.”


	28. Chapter 28

The next week had been almost a blur. Draco had gotten used to the usual jibes from the student body ("Potters whore." Seemed to be the current favourite), but after Harry's powerful display in the Entrance Hall no one dared say a word while he was in ear shot. So Draco just took to spending more time with Harry and the Gryffindors than he usually would. He had to admit, having Hermione Granger in his study group was doing wonders for his grades, he was by no means failing any classes but he knew for certain that the few essays they had worked on together were definitely better off after her input. Not that he would admit that for even a second. Even Longbottom had handed Draco the correct book when he was almost pulling his hair out over the remaining 5 inches for his Herbology essay, he had taken it, stunned. Longbottom hadn't said a word in response, had just shrugged and turned to his own, almost finished essay. The usual timid boy had been far more accepting of Draco after his help in the first DA meeting, he hadn’t ventured as far as an actual conversation but he would join a discussion that Draco was in if the rest of the Gryffindors were pitching in as well. It was progress.

He and Ron had even come to an accord one afternoon, (although he still refused to call him Ron out loud, and Harry had long since stopped pestering him about it) Ron had Checkmated Hermione for the third time before the girl had thrown her hands up in defeat and walked away from the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall. Draco, having finished his Charms essay and was waiting for Harry to catch up, had offered to beat him since it seemed no one else could. He hadn't beat him the first time, or the second, but the third time he took the victory and he smirked at Ron. 

"You have a tell." Draco had explained when Ron had half accused him of cheating, "You favour your knight." Ron had looked at him blankly for a second before staring down at the chess board in horror. Re-playing the past few matches in his mind, "Fuck you're right."

Draco was enjoying himself. He would refuse it on pain of death. But he was. Harry's friends were … fun, happy, certainly more than the Slytherins. Even spending time with Blaise and Pansy, Draco wished that one of them would explode a goblet of pumpkin juice just so everyone could erupt in laughter. Or that one of them would open a box of Bertie Botts and dare each other to eat all the grey ones in one handful. He loved his friends, but they were so careful with their words and emotions that it was hard to sit and enjoy their company. It wasn’t something he’d ever noticed before spending time with the Gryffindors, he had come to realise how much of his childhood he had missed out on just by having to uphold the “Pureblood way”. He vowed to urge Pansy to become friends with Hermione, the two girls would hit it off he was sure. Hermione would benefit from Pansy's fashion sense and Pansy would benefit from Hermione's smarts. And he knew Blaise would give Weasley a run for his money when it came to Chess and Merlin knew he needed someone to bring him down a few pegs.

The second DA meeting came and went. Draco moved onto showing the students the other two healing spells he had promised. Hermione in particular, stood with her wand in hand, staring determinedly down at the pig skin in front of her as she cast Vulnera Sanentur. The sight of Draco bleeding out in front of her had never made her feel more useless. So even though other girls and guys in the room were wrinkling their nose at the slashed dead pigs in front of them Hermione was stepping up again and again to heal the skin in front of her. 

"I know it's gross, but it's the closest we can get to human skin without actually cutting into people." Draco had urged. 

"How did you learn?" Zacharias Smith challenged, still desperate to prove that Draco was an infiltrating Death Eater.

"My Father used house elves. If that is more agreeable to you than a dead pig then I might suggest that you've given your allegiances to the wrong side in this war." Draco folded his arms in contempt. He ignored Hermione's strangled gasp from behind him, not willing to hear another word about her S.P.E.W. ideas.

"No." Smith had said petulantly before taking his turn at healing the skin. 

It wasn't anywhere near perfect conditions to learn the spell in, but they could hardly practice this one on each other after all. Harry had pressed a kiss to his temple before taking a turn at the healing spell. He was at least halfway successful, he was taking this one as seriously as Hermione was. The vision of his Boyfriend with a huge gash in his chest was as much motivation as he needed.

Harry had also given up denying Draco sex. He still hadn't managed to produce a fully corporeal Patronus, and Draco figured that his reason for giving in was as much for his own pleasure as it was for Draco's. 

"I thought we had a deal." Harry had grinned up at him from where he was laid on his back in his dorm bed. Draco sat astride his hips. His own erection grinding down into Harry's as he rocked backwards and forwards leisurely.

"Fuck the deal, I almost died." Harry's hands tightened momentarily on his hips, almost to the point of painful as he recalled the image of Draco’s dazed expression and bleeding body.

"Please, don't remind me." Harry pleaded with green eyes. Draco leaned down, he gripped Harry's wrists and pinned them to the pillow above his head. Smirking in triumph as though Harry hadn't completely allowed it to happen. He hovered over Harry with a smirk on his lips and his blonde hair flopping down over his eyes.

"Incarcerous." He murmured. And a thin rope wrapped loosely around Harry's wrists, having not cast the spell with enough power to fully bind him. Harry tugged at the rope experimentally and Draco waited for his approval.

"Kinky bastard." Harry met Draco's smirk with his own grin, "Go on then, have your way with me."

And Draco did. He stripped them both quickly, pushing Harry's shirt up his arms to tangle around the rope that bound wrists. He used Harry's lubrication spell and lowered himself onto Harry with his head tilted back and a gasp of delight flying from his lips. 

That had been days ago though. Right now they were standing outside Snape's office, waiting for his head of house to open the door. Draco hadn't taken no for an answer when Harry had left for his Occlumency lesson. Draco had stood up at the same time he had, and looked at Harry with a raised eyebrow and his arms crossed tightly across his chest, challenging him to even try to stop him.

"Fine." Harry had said, throwing his arms in the air and breaking their little silent standoff. Draco had just smirked wider and followed him out of the room

"In." Snape commanded, the moment the door had opened for them.

"Mr Malfoy, I had not expected you. Leave us please, this is Potter's lesson."

"Actually Professor, I believe I should stay."

“And why is that exactly?” Snape sneered at him.

"You asked me to show Harry the basics, Sir. I thought if I were in attendance then I would be more aware of what Harry needed to work on in our spare time.” Draco had lied, he didn’t think that saying ‘because you’re a Death Eater and I don’t trust you’ would have garnered him an invitation into the man's Office.

“Very well.” He swept the two of them into his Office and Harry took a seat in front of him while Draco sat off to the side, watching intently.

“Clear your mind.” Snape said, before lifting his wand and casting, “Legilimens.” In the next breath. 

Draco’s hands balled at his sides. He wanted to knock the wand out of the older man's hand. This was not how you went about teaching somebody a new skill. He watched as Harry struggled under Snape’s spell. He tossed his head from side to side at an almost break neck speed and his hands fisted over the arms of the chair he was sitting on. Barely a minute in and his hair had already started to stick to the sheen of sweat that had sprung up across his forehead.

“Control your mind Potter!” Snape spat when the spell had lifted.

“Sir, if you’d just give me a moment-”

“The Dark Lord does not give moments. Again! Legilimens!” 

Draco watched in silent rage as Harry’s head snapped back against the wooden chair. He began to pant from the effort of trying and failing to bring order to his memories and lock them away from Snape's prying eyes.

“Malfoy, you must be an incompetent teacher if you’ve not even managed to show Potter even the basics of Occlumency.” Snape jeered towards Draco.

“He does perfectly well under my spells, Professor.” Draco challenged.

“Again, Potter. Legilimens.” 

Harry was hit again with the full force of Snape’s spell. Draco cringed as Harry gasped and groaned as he was forced to relive some of his worst memories. Draco could only concentrate on Harry and his internal struggle.

Come on. He thought. Concentrate. He urged. Boxes, Harry, boxes. He just wished he could speak to him, remind him of what he needed to do. Bring his attention away from his memories and back to the task at hand. He hadn’t needed to tell Harry to concentrate on blocking him out since their second or third try together. Harry had been able to shut his memories away within thirty seconds of Draco being inside his mind. It wasn’t perfect yet, but it was a truly great start, and Snape was undoing all their hard work.

“Stop!” Harry cried, wand in hand. 

“Block me from your mind, Potter!”

“I know! But you aren’t giving me a chance to-”

“To what? Do you think the Dark Lord cares? Legilimens.”

Fight it Harry. Draco thought. Focus your memories away from what Snape wants to see. Think of anything.

_ Think of anything.  _ The words e choed in Harry’s mind as though they were being spoken to him by someone else.

_ Think of Quidditch.  _ He could do that, he grasped hold of the memories that flew through his consciousness.  The memories of broom handles, of Snitches and Bludgers, and then he remembered catching the Remembrall as it soared through the air. He remembered his first time on a broom, the elation of finding the one thing in the Wizarding World that he didn't need to be taught.

_ Think of me.  _ Me? But who was me? Harry struggled to hold onto the memory of catching his very first Snitch, the elation of spitting it out into his hand while the whole of Hogwarts, sans Slytherins, cheered him on. 

_ Think of us, Harry _ . Us? Draco? Think of Draco? Him and Draco. Hot kisses, and sweat slicked limbs, and grinding hips.

“Potter!” Harry was ripped out of his memories as Snape let the spell drop, "I will not stand for such pornography."

Draco raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"Again. This time don't let me see such things." Draco kept his eyes fixed on Harry as Snape cast Legilimens once again and pulled Harry into his own mind.

_ Think of me Harry. _ Think of Draco? Quite happily. His mind was full of pale grey eyes, shining with anger, with mirth and with tears. Blonde hair slicked back with the usual spell, loose over his forehead, messy from Harry’s wandering hands. Slytherin robes half pushed off his shoulders. His long neck covered in bite marks. His pale skin glist-

"Potter!" 

Draco jumped again. It seemed as though Harry had all of a sudden been able to fend off Snape's mental attack. He had been so much calmer that time. His eyes hadn't been clenched shut. His hands hadn't gripped the seat in pain. His head hadn't flung from side to side. 

"Again!"

Draco watched as Harry was pulled into his own mind by the spell. He seemed to struggle again instantly. Draco stared at him in concentration. Wishing he could soothe his tense shoulders, and kiss away the twist of his mouth.

_ Kiss. _ Harry heard that voice again, it reminded him of all the kisses he'd shared with Draco. They always made him feel better. The way he smiled against Harry's mouth and curled his arms around Harry's neck.

"Enough." Snape's spell dropped once again. He looked pissed, Draco noted, "I have no desire to witness your love life Potter. That's enough for today. Leave."

Harry stood up on shaky legs and absentmindedly left the room with Draco following a step behind him. He followed Harry up to the Entrance Hall and up to the first floor without saying a word.

"You seemed to have made some progress there." Draco commented finally, pulling Harry out of his almost meditative state and half expecting him to have forgotten his presence entirely. 

"I … well…" Harry took a second to try and explain actually happened, he'd been thinking about it since they had stepped out of Snape's Office and still was only halfway to figuring it out, "Not really. I don't think." Harry said, with a crease in his brow that Draco wanted to smooth away with his fingers.

"What do you mean? You definitely had an easier time of it after the first couple of tries."

"Only because something was urging me to think of something else. I can't explain it. I know having someone in my head isn't a good thing. I know that's what all this is for, but I could have sworn there was someone in my head helping to distract me."

"Are you sure it wasn't just your subconscious?"

"I don't think so. In fact … I think-" Harry looked at Draco, walking beside him with his hands stuffed in his pockets, "I think it might have been you."

"What?" Draco stopped in his tracks.

"I know. It's stupid. But it sounded like you."

"What was “ _ I”  _ saying?" Draco asked, over emphasising the ‘I’ as though he didn't believe Harry.

"You said, think of us. And then you said, think of me." Harry shrugged one shoulder, "So I did. Which I really don't think Snape appreciated."

"That's what he was calling pornography?"

"Well in a lot of my memories you just happen to be naked."

"And you're sure it was my voice?"

"It sounded like you." Harry shrugged, “Why? It could have just been my brain but I don’t think it was.”

"Because … I wanted to be able to talk to you. I wanted to help you. I was trying to tell you to think of anything other than what Snape wanted to see."

"That's what I heard first, think of anything."

"And then?" Draco asked.

"Quidditch." They said simultaneously. Draco's a question, Harry's a statement. 

"So it  _ was _ you. I knew it." Harry grinned.

"But I didn't… I mean, it wasn't a spell or anything. I just thought about it." Harry shrugged.

"You sent that magic to me once in detention. Maybe this is a similar thing?"

"To enter someone else's mind… You either need to be a natural Legilimens or use a spell. And I didn't." Draco repeated forcefully.

"We need Hermione." Harry said. And he grabbed Draco's hand and tugged him urgently in the direction of the common room.


	29. Chapter 29

The next month flew by. January transitioned into February without celebration. The winter days ticked down one by one. By the weekend before Valentine's Day the snow around the castle had melted and the ice covering the lake had shattered until only shards of it remained floating on the dark surface. Every now and then someone would see the giant squid breaking the surface and parting the shards with its long tentacles. 

Harry watched it emerge from the water from his seat by one of the windows in the library. The book he had been using as a reference for his Transfiguration essay lay open and forgotten in front of him. Hermione was sat opposite him, she had noticed his vague expression and had spent as much time glancing up at him as she did actually writing her essay. Draco on the other hand seemed not to have noticed any of it, he had practically built a fort of Potions books around himself, and was refusing to even talk to anyone until his essay was completed. He was desperate to make it perfect, he didn’t want to give Snape an excuse to give him any less than an O this time. Ron was sat at the other side of Hermione, head in his hands and despairing over the last half of his Transfiguration essay.

“It’s Valentine’s Day next weekend, Harry.” Hermione commented, desperate to pull Harry’s focus away from the squid, who was bobbing on the surface of the lake happily. Ron glanced up, eager to be distracted.

“Hmm?” Harry asked, he turned to her with a blank expression.

“Valentines?” Hermione prompted once again.

“Is it?” Harry asked with a frown. Hermione swore she had seen Draco’s back straighten, and she could see the crown of his head cocked to one side so he could listen in on their conversation around his book fort.

“Yes,” She realised that Harry wasn’t going to add anything to the conversation so she continued, “Do you two have plans?” She asked.

“Oh, I don’t know,” Harry tried to look over at Draco for some support but the Slytherin just leaned closer to his parchment, his nose almost brushing against the wet ink, “I guess we’ll just go to Hogsmeade or something. I dunno.” 

Draco pulled his wand out and cast a drying charm on the wet ink. He stuffed his essay into his bag and gathered up the books he needed before storming to the front of the library without a word to any of the Gryffindors. Harry turned to Hermione and Ron with wide eyes. Ron just shrugged back at him, he wasn’t able to discern why the Slytherin had gone off in a strop anymore than Harry was.

“Do you think we were interrupting him? I think he was trying to concentrate.” Harry said.

“I actually think he’s a bit upset.” Hermione pointed out.

“Really?” Harry stared after Draco who was checking the books out with Madam Pince without a single glance in their direction, “Why?”

“Really, Harry?” At his still blank look she sighed and leaned over the table to him, “He’s upset that you haven’t made any plans for Valentines.”

“Are you sure?” Harry watched Draco turn on his heel from Pince’s desk and flounce out of the Library, “It’s not like either of us really cares.”

“They’re not girls Hermione, you do remember that don’t you?” Ron asked, finally taking some of the pressure off Harry’s shoulders. Harry nodded along in agreement.

“Oh, and I suppose guys can’t enjoy Valentine's Day?” She glared at them both. Harry just shrugged in response, “Have you even got him anything?”

“Of course. Ordered him a box of those French chocolates he likes, might nick his broom and give it a clean up as well.”

“Really Harry? Polishing his broom - Oh stop thinking dirty both of you-” Harry had smirked at her for her choice of wording, while Ron blanched and once again pretended that Harry and Draco were doing no more than playing Gobstones at three o’clock in the morning, “That’s not very romantic, is it?”

“Well, I didn’t think we were doing much in the way of romance. He’s never said he was bothered.”

“Of course he won’t, he’s a needy little bugger.” Ron said, “I think Hermione’s got a point though mate. Malfoy probably is expecting you to plan something. Maybe actually get him a proper present too.”

“Do you even know how expensive those chocolates are? And they go by weight too.” Harry despaired.

“Everyone gets chocolates for Valentine’s Day, Harry. Think of something romantic. You have a week.” Hermione pointed out.

“And he’s a spoilt git, so make it something good.” Ron added. Harry sighed and swept everything into his bag like Draco had done a few minutes earlier.

“And maybe, actually ask him to be your Valentine.” Hermione advised.

“He’s my Boyfriend, who else am I going to spend the weekend with.”

“Mate, no point arguing, just go ask the slimy git.”

“You know, I really should be offended that you basically insult Draco with every sentence.” Harry pulled out the Marauders Map and used Draco’s mountain of books to hide it from view while he uttered “I solemnly swear I am up to no good” and unfolded it.

“No point, we have an understanding.” Ron shrugged. 

Harry located Draco pretty quickly, he was headed towards the Great Hall, obviously intending on catching an early Lunch as soon as the plates filled. Given that it was the weekend, most students were still in bed and would only crawl out to catch the back end of lunch time. He made it to the Great Hall just as Draco was pouring himself a cup of tea and tucking into a sandwich he’d pieced together from the spread in front of him. Harry approached the Slytherin table and dropped down onto the bench next to the blonde. He ignored the titters coming from some of the younger years, who sat further down the sparsely populated table. He sat with one leg on either side of the bench and looked resolutely at the side of Draco’s face, as his knee pressed into Draco’s thigh under the table.

“Potter.” Draco acknowledged, placing the sandwich back down on the plate in front of him carefully.

“Draco.” Draco raised an eyebrow and turned to face him slowly, “You left pretty quickly up there. I thought we were going to do some work on your Patronus today? And a bit of work on our connection?”

“Forgive me, I must have  _ forgot.”  _ He glared at Harry and turned back to his plate.

“I didn’t completely forget.” Harry tried to explain, before Draco’s patience ended and he was at the receiving end of a humiliating jinx or two, “I ordered you a present.”

“Hm.” Was Draco’s response.

“Draco...” Harry started, before changing tactics, “Dear, Darling, Draco,” He shifted closer, “Gorgeous Draco,” He leaned into Draco’s side with a grin as he felt Draco relax slightly, even if his face remained unimpressed, “Love of my life...” Harry teased.

“Merlin, what?!” Draco finally exclaimed, pushing Harry away slightly in faux exasperation.

“Will you be my Valentine? And will you accompany me to Hogsmeade next weekend?” Harry leaned back in again, close enough to nudge Draco’s cheek with his nose.

“Fucking hell, fine. If you’re that desperate.” But Harry knew that Hermione had been right, his previous icy exterior melted, in favour of shooting Harry a wonderful smile that would have probably made his knees weak had he been standing. Harry nudged Draco’s cheek again with the tip of his nose, causing a frisson of magic to tickle across his face, before kissing his cheek lightly and standing up.

“I’ll leave you to your lunch. Meet you in the normal room at 1?” Draco nodded, Harry spared him a grin and left the Great Hall as quickly as he had entered. He had plans to make and execute and not a lot of time to do it in.

Half an hour later he felt like smashing his head against one of the stone walls of Hogwarts, not enough to kill himself, but enough to take him solidly out of commission for a good week. At least until all the Valentines Day shit was over with. His problem wasn’t lack of ideas, the list in front of him boasted various things he could buy Draco, new acromantula silk robes, a pair of self-heating and self-cleaning dragon hide boots, a Phoenix feather quill, each item more extravagant and expensive as the one before it. But none of them quite felt… special enough. The only thing Draco had been talking about recently was his OWLs and his annoyance at Snape for refusing to give him the grade’s he had rightfully earned. Only once had their conversation strayed to something more meaningful. 

_ “I wonder… Do you think my Mother is really dead?” Draco had whispered as they lay side by side behind the scarlet Gryffindor curtains. He had turned to Harry with eyes so wide and desperate that Harry could do nothing more than turn onto his side and clutch Draco to his chest, allowing his Boyfriend to cry silently into his neck.  _ They hadn’t mentioned it since. Probably never would.

But … maybe he  _ could  _ find out for Draco. He had contacts within the Ministry after all and there was someone on Voldemort’s side who owed him a life debt … but to pull it off within a week … would be nearing the impossible. Luckily, Harry had quite the experience with the impossible. 

He ran up to his dormitory and rummaged for the mirror that Sirius had given him over the Christmas break. He looked into it and said “Sirius Black” it took a few seconds but Sirius’s face was soon swimming into view, a big grin splitting across his face.

“I was beginning to think you’d forgotten me Harry.”

“Not a chance Sirius. I just want a bit of information if you wouldn’t mind.”

“What can I do for you?”

“I was wondering how deaths were recorded in the Wizarding World?”

“Really?” Sirius’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, “Well it’s all done automatically. There’s a device in the Ministry that records the names of the dead instantly.”

“So no one needs to physically register a death?”

“No. It’s how we found out about Lily and - I mean, your parents.”

“But it’s not tamper proof? Because everyone thought that Wormtail was dead.”

“Only someone in that department in the Ministry could physically remove or add a name to the list. That’s what I think happened, it wouldn’t have been difficult for Peter to get through in his other form.” 

“Who has access to that list?”

“Aurors, mostly. Department heads too. The Aurors keep track in case someone they had been chasing suddenly dies.” Sirius paused for a moment, “Why do you need to know Harry?”

“Erm, History of Magic essay.” He lied, “Thanks for the info Sirius but I’d better be getting back to that essay.”

“Right, let’s pretend I believe that. Don’t get yourself caught up in anything, Harry.”

“No, I won’t.” Harry smiled innocently but put the mirror down before hurrying back to the common room.

He grabbed an empty piece of parchment and wrote out a quick note before he legged it towards the Owlry. Desperate to get there before he was due to meet Draco. He streamed past students who swore after him as he knocked into them, and teachers who had half a mind to follow him, because Harry Potter didn’t run through the castle full speed for no reason.

Once he had reached the Owlry he coaxed Hedwig down from her perch and tied the note to her leg for Tonks, he figured she would be the most likely to help him, she was related to Draco after all.

_ Looking into the possible death of Mrs Malfoy. Would you be able to check the list of the dead to see if she is listed? I don’t think I can let this go until I know for sure. Thanks, hope all is well. _

_ -Harry _

Harry watched Hedwig fly into the distance, not really knowing quite what he was getting himself into or how he was going to get himself out of it.


	30. Chapter 30

“I said something romantic, Harry.” Hermione hissed when he had confessed what he was trying to do in little more than a whisper, “Not something suicidal.” It was Sunday morning and they were sitting together in the common room while most of the Gryffindors were still in bed, except for the odd few upper years who were pouring over assignments and study materials, trying desperately to stay on top of their NEWTs and OWLs. None of them seemed even remotely bothered about the two Fifth years sitting innocently in front of the fire.

“I have to, Hermione.”

“And what if she is dead?”

“Then I give him the chocolates and the Complimenting Mirror and forget about it.” He had found the Complimenting Mirror from the fashion magazine he had snagged from Lavender the night before. It was exactly what it said on the tin, a mirror that complimented your appearance whenever you looked into it, something that he hoped Draco would get a laugh out of, Merlin knows he preened enough when Harry whispered compliments into his skin. He had sent his order off by Owl yesterday evening, after his and Draco’s Patronus practice. He had made sure to request a rush order, and even dropped a few more Galleons into the pouch for their troubles.

“And what if she isn’t?” That option was by far the scarier of the two. How would Harry pull off a daring rescue plan from right under Voldemort’s non-existent nose? He had a few ideas.

“I haven’t figured that part out yet. I think I might need Ron for that one.”

“Well we both know he’s far better at coming up with plans then you are. But even so, I just don’t see how you’d ever be able to pull it off.”

“Hey, is that someone’s Owl?” A seventh year pointed to one of the big windows that overlooked the Hogwarts grounds. Sure enough, there was a white snowy owl perched on the windowsill outside, Hedwig. Harry rushed over and opened the window so she could hop through. He carefully untied the note from around her leg and gave her feathers a pet down. She hooted at him and nibbled his finger with affection.

“I’m sorry, I don’t have any food up here.” She hooted again, and gave him a look that meant she clearly wasn’t very impressed with him, “Come to the Great Hall with the other owls at lunch time and I’ll give you something then.” She flapped her wings at him before hopping back out of the window and flying away, Harry reckoned she was probably heading to the Owlery for a quick snooze before she came to collect the promised treat at lunchtime.

“It’s from Tonks.” Harry said, as he settled back down next to Hermione.

_ Wotcher, Harry. You caught me right before my shift started. I don’t get much chance to look at the list, I’m not at a high enough rank yet. But I managed a sneaky glance. I don’t see Narcissa Malfoy's name on it and I went right back to before Christmas. Don’t be getting yourself into trouble over it though.  _

_ Hope I’ve helped. _

_ Tonks _

“She’s alive. Holy shit.” He looked up at Hermione's pursed expression with wide eyes.

“If you’re really not going to let this go-” She sighed, and rubbed her head, as though she couldn’t even believe what she was going to suggest, “Then I guess we should help you. But only-” She poked him in the shoulder, “So you don’t get yourself killed.”

“Right… So what can we pull off in a week?”

“I really think that Dobby is the way to go. Do you think he could still access Malfoy Manor?”

“Let’s go ask.” They stood up and hurried from the room. Using Harry’s various shortcuts through the castle they made it to the kitchens in record time. Hermione took the liberty of tickling the pear and pulling the painting wide open for both of them to step through.

They were bombarded within seconds. House-elves surrounded their legs, offering them trays of pastries and goblets of pumpkin juice.

“I’m sorry, we just need Dobby.” Hermione said, as one particularly long eared elf tried to push an entire trifle into her hands.

“Mr Harry Potter Sir!” Dobby cried, pushing his way through the other House-elves to get as close to Harry as possible and bow low over his feet.

“Er, hey Dobby,” Harry said uncomfortably, “Could we talk to you for a second?” Harry led him over to one of the four imitation house tables in the middle of the room and sat down, he would have offered Dobby a seat but he knew quite well just how much trouble it would give him, and he’d rather Dobby didn’t start braining himself against the edge of the table before they had a chance to talk to him.

“Are you still able to get into Malfoy Manor?” Harry asked quietly, and Hermione perched on the table next to him.

“Oh, yes Mr Harry Potter Sir. A House Elf's magic is most unknown to Wizards. They are not knowing how to stop me.” Harry and Hermione looked at each other knowingly.

“And, do you think you might be able to transport someone  _ out  _ of the manor with you?” Hermione pitched in.

“I should think so Miss.”

“So if someone were … locked in a dungeon say, you would be able to transport them out?”

“That is something I cannot do Sir. There are curses on the dungeons Sir. Only a very powerful wizard would be able to break them, Sir.” Dobby looked up at him with big tennis ball eyes which were slowly filling with tears, “Dobby is sorry he can’t be of more help sir.”

“Oh, Dobby, you’ve been wonderful.” Hermione assured him, “And we might just need your help in a few days.”

“Yes, Miss. Anything for  _ Harry Potter _ .” He emphasised Harry’s name and dropped into a low bow again.

They left the kitchen a few minutes later, Hermione had taken a napkin filled with tarts and pastries that a female elf had pushed into her hands. She stammered a thanks as they were escorted from the room. 

“That’s not very Spew of you.” Harry laughed at her horrified expression.

“It’s S.P.E.W as you well know. And these are for Ronald. He’ll be awfully upset to hear that we went to the kitchen without him.” Harry continued to laugh as they made their way back through the corridors of Hogwarts.

“What do you think about those curses then? I definitely think Dobby is our way in and out, if we can break into the dungeon.”

“Well firstly, we don’t even know that she is in the dungeons. We need to find her first. And once we figure out where she is then we’ll discuss the possibility of there being extra wards.”

“Right. Any ideas?” 

“One.” Hermione answered.

They made it to the portrait and climbed through. In their absence Ron had climbed out of bed and had sat on one of their previously occupied seats. He scratched his head and yawned as he stared blankly into the fire.

“Good morning.” Hermione said, pulling him out of his half asleep stupor.

“Morning. Figured you’d both be back. You both left your stuff here you know.” He nudged Hermione’s books with a socked toe, “Where’ve you been?” 

“Kitchens.” Harry explained.

“Without me, bang out of order mate. What did you-” He was cut off by Hermione shoving the napkin full of treats under his nose, “Aw, cheers ‘Mione.” He grinned and grabbed a croissant, shoving half of it in his mouth before relaxing back in the armchair again.

“Harry’s had a foolish idea.” Hermione announced.

“Again?” Ron asked, entirely unsurprised.

“He wants to rescue Mrs Malfoy from the dungeons of Malfoy Manor.” She continued.

Ron turned to him, his mouth dropping open. Harry could see the half chewed croissant in his mouth and he wrinkled his nose up at the view. Hermione was smirking at Harry behind Ron’s shoulder as the redhead began to choke on an inhaled piece of flaky pastry.

“That’s near impossible mate. Malfoy Manor is one of the most warded places in the Wizarding World. Not to mention the little detail of You-Know-Who living there. You’d have to have Malfoy blood to even get through the wards, or you’d need to be-”

“A house elf?” Harry asked with a raised eyebrow, “Who has full access to the house and the grounds, with the knowledge of how to navigate the entire estate.”

“... Yeah.” Ron answered slowly as he thought through the possibility.

“Well, I have that.”

“You’re insane, mate.”

“You’ve known that since first year, don’t think you’d have waited this long to do something about it if it actually bothered you.” Ron looked between the two of them, Harry’s look of determination and Hermione’s exasperation coupled with the fierce loyalty she felt for her best friend.

“Fuck it, what’s the plan.”

x

The potion in front of them bubbled and glugged in the cauldron. They were in the room of requirement once again. It was definitely their go to hang out area this year, he hardly remembered where they’d gone in the previous years, and they all would happily admit that it was a fair bit nicer than brewing over an empty toilet in the first floor girls bathroom. Hermione had spent the whole DA meeting holed up in the corner of the room brewing the Location Potion. It was a tricky, but short, brew. With a lot of carefully counted clockwise and anti-clockwise stirring. No one had asked what she was doing, but their eyes drifted over regularly with no lack of curiosity. Draco especially had drifted over and read the recipe over her shoulder.

“This isn’t for class.” He pointed out, “Wait … it isn’t is it?” He looked at her, horrified at the possibility of missing so major from his classes, “I haven’t missed something have I?”

“No, of course not.” Hermione was quick to settle him, well aware of his stress over his Potions grade, “I was just curious. I want to see if it works on Muggles too.”

“Right …” Draco looked at her strangely but looked down at the instructions once more, “You need to stir four times counter clockwise.” He pointed out before walking away and leaving her to it. She swore to herself and stirred it with precision. She was in the corner until well after the meeting ended. Harry had urged Draco to go down to his house before Umbridge started patrolling the hallways, and had nudged him out of the room, kissing him softly as he closed the door behind him. He could imagine Draco glaring at the closed door before turning and storming off. His pendant had warmed minutes later but he ignored it. Too focused on the last few steps of the potion to even think about taking his eyes off it. 

It turned a grey-ish blue as Hermione completed the last stir. She sighed in relief and fell back into the chair behind her with a groan. Her eyes were sensitive from the strain of staring at the cramped instructions, and her neck was sore from hovering over the cauldron for hours. 

“You’re bloody amazing you are.” Ron complimented.

“An absolute genius Hermione.” Harry agreed, “I owe you so much for this.”

“You’re right. You do. I think I fancy myself some of that chocolate that you say is oh so expensive.”

“Hermione, if this works, I’ll buy you the fucking shop.” He grinned and gave her a half hug, leaning over to where she was sitting.

“Add the hair.”

Harry pulled out the small corked vial with a few small blonde hairs inside. Draco’s hair. He had snagged them from his comb that very morning.

“It should turn-” The hairs floated on the surface before dissolving, the potion turned purple, “Purple.” She grinned.

“Bloody brilliant.” Ron said in awe, causing the girl to blush deeply in pride.

She spread the sheets of parchment out over the table. They had asked Dobby to outline each floor of the manor on separate pieces of parchment, and Harry had spent his entire lunch hour sitting with him as he did it, labelling each room at Dobby’s instruction. Two lower levels of dungeons, a floor consisting of an impressive entrance hall, a receiving room and a Floo room, a grand ballroom, a library, bedrooms… It was massive. Harry was suddenly sad that Draco’s home was so tainted by Voldemort, it must have been, for want of a better word,  _ magical,  _ to live in such a place.

“Now, we need to brush the parchments with the potion, and it will show us the location of anyone with Malfoy blood. Which, hopefully is just Draco’s Mother and Father, and hopefully we can work out which is which by process of elimination.” Hermione dipped a paint brush that she’d borrowed from Dean (and had promised to replace next time they went to Hogsmeade) into the potion and began to paint over the parchment with smooth even strokes, covering the drawings from corner to corner. The edges of the papers began to curl slightly at the added moisture and for a minute the three of them stood staring at eight pieces of potion soaked parchment with baited breath. It soaked in after two minutes, leaving the parchment dry, but crimped, brittle and slightly stained purple.

“What’s supposed to-” Hermione elbowed Ron in the side, cutting him off with a sharp shush.

Two circular marks began to bloom. It looked like the parchment itself was repelling the potion causing it to well up onto the surface once again. Hermione dabbed it away with the corner of a napkin and they leaned closer to view the two perfectly clean spots.

“This one’s in the study.” Hermione pointed out.

“Lucius then?” Harry asked, “This one’s on the fourth floor.” He leaned in closer to read the writing that had been smudged slightly by the potion.

“Where?” 

“Draco’s room.” Harry looked up at Hermione with his eyebrows drawn together, “Why would she be in Draco’s bedroom?” He asked seriously.

Harry looked over at Hermione's bewildered expression and Ron’s ‘don’t disturb me I’m figuring it out face’.

“Because it’s warded!” Ron exclaimed suddenly, after they had spent a moment looking at each other, hoping that one of them had an answer. They both looked at him in surprise.

“The whole manor is.” Harry supplied unhelpfully.

“No, I mean, Malfoy... Your Malfoy. He warded it before he left, didn’t he? That’s what he said when he got to Grimmauld.” Harry nodded, “Well if his ward was strong enough no one else would have been able to get in or out. She’s still in there, where he left her.”

“You think Draco is powerful enough to put up that kind of ward? I mean no offence of course,” Hermione quickly added for Harry’s benefit, “He’s plenty powerful, but for Voldemort himself to not be able to break it down…Surely not?”

“It would have been bolstered by the innate magic of the Manor. The blood magic in the house would have added strength to it. Malfoy Senior should be able to pull it down with enough effort, but You-Know-Who wouldn’t have been able to get anywhere near it.”

“But the Slytherin that attacked Draco, he said, well something really disgusting about how the Death Eaters were treating his Mother.”

“Slytherin bullshit I reckon. He knew what would have hit Malfoy the hardest. Hardly difficult to piece the two together if his parents are Death Eaters.”

“But wouldn’t she have been able to use the Floo after Draco?” Hermione asked.

“Not if You-Know-Who blocked it off. That’s external to the Manor wards.”

“She’s been in there for a month and a half!” Hermione exclaimed, her hands flying to her mouth, “How has she been eating?”

“House elves.” Ron said with a shrug.

“Dobby did say that Wizards haven’t found a way to ward against House-elves. But couldn’t they have taken her out of there.”

“Not without Malfoy Senior's say so. And he might be pretending that he can’t break the ward but he wouldn’t be able to get away with her just up and disappearing.”

“Do you think Dobby could do it?” Harry asked Ron.

“Don’t see why not. Can hardly believe it, but we wouldn’t even need to leave Hogwarts, can’t really be that simple could it?”

Harry thought about it for a couple of minutes.

“I can get the secret from Dumbledore.” He said finally, he looked over at Ron and Hermione, “And then I can send Dobby to get Mrs Malfoy and sneak out to Hogsmeade. I can give her the secret there and Dobby can take her on to Grimmauld Place.”

“If you don’t want Malfoy Senior to be killed on the spot then you’d better come up with a way to make it seem like it’s not his fault. There’s no love lost for me but Malfoy might have a problem with his Dad getting blown to pieces because of us.”

“How about an explosion?” Hermione offered, shrugging at Harry and Ron’s amused expressions. Ron had once joked that they had been a bad influence on her, but Harry knew that there was a reason she’d made it to Gryffindor rather than Ravenclaw.

“Blow up Draco’s bedroom?” She nodded, “He’ll fucking kill me. But yeah.” Harry agreed, but scrubbed his hand through his hair, just imagining Draco’s horrified face at finding out that his childhood bedroom had been destroyed. He had spent an hour during the Christmas break describing the night sky mural on his ceiling and the snake’s that had been carved into the marble fireplace.

“I’ll talk to the twins.” Ron offered, the only other person who could instruct them on the best way to cause an explosion was Seamus but he couldn’t risk this getting out. He might be a good mate, but he was terrible with secrets.

“And I’ll talk to Dumbledore and Sirius tomorrow.” Harry said, with a final nod.

“Do you want me to do anything?” Hermione asked, sitting forward on her chair, eager to help. The stress of having to brew such a difficult potion had worn off and she was eager for more rule breaking.

“You did the potion. Best you can do now is cover for me when I go to Hogsmeade.”

“Will you take Draco?” She asked.

“I hadn’t thought about it. Do you think I should? What if something goes wrong?” He looked between his best friends who were both nodding at him.

“Take him, he’ll want to be there. He’ll be angry if you don’t.” Hermione pointed out, putting a comforting hand on Harry’s shoulder.

Harry had to agree with her. Draco would be absolutely furious if he found out that Harry had seen his Mother alive and well but hadn’t bothered to tell him or let him see her.

“Yeah. You’re right, of course.”


	31. Chapter 31

“Come with me.” Harry leaned over Draco’s shoulder in the library on the following Friday evening. His mouth was close enough to brush against the outer shell of Draco’s ear and his voice was low and insistent. Draco looked at him in confusion for a split-second, before he wordlessly put his hand in the one that Harry offered to him. He allowed the Gryffindor to pull him to his feet without question, his curiosity over the Gryffindor’s strange behaviour far outweighed his need to know Harry’s motives. He had a sneaking suspicion that this was all going to be linked to some sort of Valentine's Day surprise and he wasn’t about to spoil his own present. 

“Hermione, you’ll be okay to take Draco’s things back with you?” Harry asked once Draco was on his feet and looking at Harry with that piercing gaze of his. She nodded silently and smiled, this had been their plan all along after all, he had only really asked Hermione out loud so that Draco wouldn’t worry about leaving his things in the middle of the library. Harry snagged the Slytherin cloak from the back of his chair and guided him out of the quiet library. He didn’t utter a single word all the way down the third floor corridor and, much to Draco’s confusion, instead of leading him up to the seventh floor, and up to their preferred make-out spot, Harry led him straight to the foot of a particularly ugly statue of a One-Eyed Witch with an outrageously large hump. 

“Dissendium.” Harry murmured, and the hump on the Witch’s back opened up to reveal a secret passage that was barely illuminated by the sconces on either side of them. Draco looked down into the passage below and could just make out the beginning of a steep slide before the passage disappeared into complete blackness.

“Harry, what’s going on?” Draco folded his arms stubbornly. He had followed Harry this far without question but climbing into a pitch black passageway, behind a creepy statue, was one step too far. He felt like he deserved some kind of explanation before he willingly plunged into a deep, dark, and probably extremely filthy corridor. He wasn’t a Hufflepuff for Merlin’s sake. 

“I have a surprise for you, it’s in Hogsmeade and this will take us there. Do you trust me?” Harry held his hand out once again, he looked solemn but determined and Draco really couldn’t say no to the way those pleading green eyes looked at him. Draco glanced down at Harry’s offered hand, then up at his pleading eyes once again. The phrase ‘In for a Knut in for a Galleon’ drifted through his mind, and he realised that following Harry into the dark was pretty much going to be his life now. 

“Yes.” He took Harry’s hand once again and squeezed his fingers before approaching the gap between the statue and the wall and looked down at the inky blackness with a look of derision, “If my robes get ruined I expect you’ll replace them?”

“Of course.” Harry chuckled but watched as Draco squeezed himself through the small gap and disappeared down the long slide. He was quick to follow, well aware that they had already loitered in the corridor for slightly too long, he wouldn’t be surprised if a patrol of the Inquisitorial Squad came by at any second. He closed his eyes and tried to ignore the swoop in his stomach as he slid down the steep decline. The slide was steep enough and long enough that within a second the light was left behind him and he was plunged into the all encompassing blackness of the hidden underbelly of the Castle. He reached the bottom in no time, and ended up sliding directly into the back of Draco’s legs, nearly knocking him back onto the floor that he had just picked himself up from.

“You failed to mention the dirt.” Harry knew that tone well enough to be able to properly imagine the corner of Draco’s lip curling into a sneer in the darkness. A quick Lumos from Harry had him scrabbling to cast cleaning charms on his previously spotless robes, as he was finally able to see just how much dirt had collected on his trousers.

“My apologies, your Royal Highness.” Harry chuckled as Draco shifted one way and the other to inspect himself for potential damage.

“I know you’re just kidding, but I quite like the sound of your Royal Highness.” Draco smirked at Harry’s eye roll which he was just about able to make out by the small light that clung onto the tip of Harry’s wand.

“Yeah? Don’t get used to it you blonde git.” He slipped past Draco, nudging him playfully in the ribs in the process, and began to lead him down the tunnel, “Come on, it’s a bit of a trek, but I promise it’ll be worth it.”

They set off walking the monotony of dark walls, dark floor and dark ceiling had Draco noticing things he wouldn’t normally have bothered to look at, like every now and then a craggy piece of rock would jut out into the passage and they had to lean very slightly to duck around it. He could also feel that the tunnel was gradually sloping down as they walked. At the fifteen minute mark Draco was sighing loudly from the monotony of nothing but dirt walls, dirt floor, and Harry’s shifting back. He stuffed his hands deep into his pockets and amused himself with kicking at the tiny pebbles underfoot and counting their footsteps. He got to 187 before he got bored.

“Are you going to tell me where we’re going yet?” He asked, as twenty and then twenty-five minutes ticked by. He was starting to get sweaty, he hated getting sweaty, especially when he was wearing his uniform, the white shirt and black robe just had no breathability. His blonde hair had fallen loose from the grooming spell he had cast that morning, it was slowly driving him mad with how it ticked against his forehead and bounced in his peripheral vision with each step he took. Harry, of course, looked flawless. He kept shooting looks behind him, catching Draco’s eyes every now and then and smiling encouragingly. Stupid Potter.

“It’s a surprise. Kind of a Valentines Day present.”

“Right.” Because that answered absolutely no questions whatsoever, and was exactly what Draco had already figured out for himself ages ago. But he didn’t press, he’d let Harry keep his secret for the time being.

By forty and forty-five minutes in, the path began to incline. Draco’s legs were burning from the extended exercise he was made for flying gracefully through the air on a broom, not trudging along the ground like some kind of mountain troll. He was seriously sweating now, and he hoped to Merlin that Harry’s cleaning charms were good enough to get rid of the stench off both of them. Given that he was down wind of Harry he knew that the Gryffindor was definitely starting to give off the same kind of smell. Harry might have been more used to physical exercise, but not even that would be enough to save him from the extended exercise.

“Are we there yet?” Draco asked. He was surprised at how breathless he was feeling, “I swear Potter, this had better be fucking worth it.” He was starting to get ticked off a little bit. 

That was a lie of course, he had been ticked off since the fifteen minute mark, but he didn’t want to let Harry know. If the Gryffindor was so sure that the surprise was worth all this effort then Draco didn’t want to make him feel shit about it.

“Almost there. Are you doing okay back there?” Draco grumbled a response and pushed his hair off his face for the hundredth time. He needed a fucking haircut. In fact, he was close to grabbing his wand and casting a cutting charm on the whole lot of it.

“Look, there.” Harry pointed up ahead to a shaft of dusty light peeling through the darkness of their tunnel. The first bit of natural light that Draco had seen in the past hour.

“Thank fuck.” Draco groaned out.

=

They reached the end of the tunnel and Harry climbed up and pushed the trapdoor open. He climbed out carefully, careful not to knock into the boxes that were stacked around the narrow opening in the floor. He reached down into the tunnel and helped Draco out behind him, his legs were tired enough that even the few ladder rungs seemed like a bit too much for his body to handle. Once they were both out in the open Harry was quick to throw his invisibility cloak over both of them and hurry them up the rickety stairs that took them up to Honeydukes sweet shop. Draco almost spluttered in surprise, he hadn’t been entirely sure where they would end up, he would have guessed the forbidden forest with how far they had walked, but Hogsmeade did make sense in regards to a potential Valentine’s Day present. Harry didn’t let them dawdle, he took Draco’s hand in his own and pulled him close behind him as they crept out of the sweet shop. Harry began to lead them away from the main street, he stuck to the shadows and sides of buildings as they made their way away from the main part of the Village and passed the smattering of houses, heading straight to the Hogshead Pub. Before they reached the front door Harry pulled Draco down the side of the building, he checked to make sure that no one was around and then pulled the cloak off them.

“Cleaning charm please.” Draco said, he felt gross and smelly. But the cold February air had done wonders to cool him down, drying the sweat on his skin the moment he had stepped out of Honeydukes but leaving him feeling in need of a long shower. Harry waved a quick cleaning charm over both of them, getting rid of the sweat and the buildup of dirt that had managed to stick to them. Draco pulled his own wand out to fix his hair and finally he felt like a normal human being again.

“There, back to perfection.” Harry teased as he leaned forward to press an innocent kiss to Draco’s soft mouth.

“Are you going to tell me why we’re here?” Draco said, instead of relaxing into the kiss like he wanted to. Being out in the open had calmed him down somewhat and he no longer felt like he wanted to hex Harry, but it didn’t mean that he was altogether happy about being forced to walk for an hour in such unappealing conditions.

“Not yet.”

“This really isn’t coming off as romantic Potter, I don’t know if that was your aim or not, but it’s actually starting to be a bit creepy.” Draco said in a huff, and crossed his arms over his chest to show the Gryffindor that he wasn’t happy at all with the way his evening had panned out.

“Come on, I’ll tell you when we’re inside.” Harry gently unfolded Draco’s arms with all the patience of a Saint, and took one of his hands in a gentle grip so he could lead him into the pub. He exchanged a conspiratorial glance and a nod with the old barman, Draco was sure he recognised him from somewhere, and edged his way to the back of the pub and up a narrow flight of stairs. He couldn’t decide which setting he liked the least, the dirt and darkness of the tunnel or this old and bedraggled pub that Harry had somehow seen as a fitting backdrop to a Valentine's present. He seriously hoped the Gryffindor hadn’t rented a room here for them, Draco would absolutely refuse to have sex with him in this shit hole. The last hotel he had been to had been a Wizarding suite at The Ritz. He was a Mayfair, Michelin rated, five Star, type of guy, not whatever this hovel constituted as.

“So, this isn’t really a romantic surprise if I’m honest,” Harry began to explain as they started to climb the stairs, “But I couldn’t think of anything that you would want more. So Hermione, Ron and I have been working all week to make this work. I have got you a proper present as well, but I’ll give you that tomorrow at breakfast so you can rub in everyone's faces how much of a wonderful Boyfriend I am.” 

“You know me so well.” Draco said dryly. Harry came to a stop outside a room door and Draco raised an eyebrow in response. He would definitely, absolutely, not be having sex with Potter in this hole.

“I love you so much.” Harry admitted. 

He put his hand on the door handle and pushed it open, it swung inwards with a creek of old wood and a squeak of rusty hinges. Harry motioned for Draco to enter first and he followed behind so he could pull the door closed behind them with a snap. He cast a strong locking charm over the worn wood, but Draco hardly noticed. The moment he had stepped into the room his breath had caught in his throat.


	32. Chapter 32

Sat in front of a roaring fire, perching primly on a threadbare high backed chair, with dark robes pulled tightly around herself, was his Mother. The sob caught in his throat. He looked to Harry for confirmation as she stood to greet him. 

“It’s really her.” Harry urged him on with a small smile on his face.

“Mother.” He stumbled forward into her open arms, Pureblood etiquette be damned, this was his Mother and he had spent the last two months thinking that she was dead. She cradled his head against her shoulder and closed her eyes in relief. Harry stayed by the door, allowing them to have this moment together without his interference. He waved to Dobby who had stayed back against the wall next to the fireplace and hadn’t spoken a word to either of them. At their arrival Dobby snapped his fingers and with a quiet and unnoticed pop he disappeared, Harry was grateful, he didn’t want this moment to be ruined by the House-Elf’s over-enthusiasm. He vowed to buy Dobby a brand new pack of lurid coloured socks for him to mix and match with as well as a couple of hats to add to his collection.

“My Dear Dragon. My wonderful Son.” She pulled back and cupped Draco’s cheeks with both of her hands, forcing him to look up and meet her eyes, “You are so powerful Dragon. You saved my life. You alone, saved my life.”

“I thought you were-” Draco held back another sob once again.

“I know my little one.” She kissed him on the forehead.

“I’m sorry, Draco, Mrs Malfoy, we only have a few minutes.” Harry pointed out, he hadn’t wanted to interrupt them, but every second that Mrs Malfoy spent outside of the wards of Grimmauld place was another second Voldemort had to find her.

“How are you alive?” Draco asked, he fisted his hands in her robes and stared at her desperately, as though she was going to disappear from right in front of him and by holding onto her he alone could prevent it from happening.

“You warded your bedroom Draco, your wards plus the blood wards and the innate magic of the manor made your bedroom a fortress. I’ve been in there since you left. The Dark Lord has been trying to break in day and night but through it all your wards held. My powerful, wonderful, Boy.” He would have protested being called her Boy, he had stopped his Mother from calling him it the moment he had received his first Hogwarts letter, but right now all he could do was clutch at her robes and stare at her features as though he might have forgotten what she looked like.

“I left you there.” He sounded horrified with himself, but Mrs Malfoy was quick to soothe him.

“No my Little One, knowing that you were alive pulled me through. It was the one thing I thought of when I woke up and the one thing I thought of when I went to sleep.” She released Draco and turned to Harry, “Mr Potter-”

“Harry, please.”

“Harry,” Her expression was fond, “Thank you for all that you have done for my family. If there is anything I can do, all you need to do is name it.”

“It was for Draco, everything was for Draco.” Harry responded humbly.

He took Mrs Malfoy's outstretched hand and grasped it in his own. He realised that Draco had his Mother's hands, long fingers and slender wrists. He was close enough to see how much the last month and a half had been weighing on her. She was on the wrong side of slender, looking almost hollow and gaunt. Grey smudges had made a home under her eyes, which were the same grey as Draco’s. The stress of being in a room that was under a constant barrage of spells had really taken its toll. But she was still beautiful, and she still stood tall, with her back straight and her shoulders back. Draco may look like his Father, but he had inherited all of his beauty and grace from his Mother.

“What about Father?” Draco asked.

“There were times when I thought I heard him on the other side of the door, but he never spoke to me or tried to make contact. His allegiance to the Dark Lord runs deep. I hardly recognise him as the man he once was. You Father has always been embroiled into the Dark Arts and he supported the Dark Lord fiercely in his first rein. But I had hoped that seeing the Lord as he is now, barely human and monstrous, that your Father would come to his senses. But I have hoped in vain.”

“There is no hope at all then?” Draco tried to ignore the crack in his voice. He knew as much, it was why he had buried this love for his Father the moment he had fled from the Manor. But he hadn’t realised until now that a small part of him was still holding onto that sliver of hope that his Father would see reason.

“I’m sorry,” Harry said, he hated to interrupt this moment between them as they mourned the loss of a Father and a Husband but he was aware of how much time had passed and how vulnerable they all were being out in the open like this, “But we need to get you moving. You’re out in the open here.”

“Wait, where are you going?” Draco asked, clutching onto his Mother.

“I’ll be going to stay with Cousin Sirius, he has welcomed me out of the goodness of his heart. I have no doubt it may have been difficult for him.” Harry handed over the tiny scroll, the secret to the location of the Order of the Phoenix. She read it twice, before setting it alight with the tip of her wand.

“I will be safe there Draco, and I’ll see you very soon.” She pulled him in for another hug.

“Kreacher!” Harry called, the house elf popped in with a small crack, “You know what to do?”

Kreacher bowed in a way that Harry had never seen before, “It is Kreacher's pleasure to serve the Noble house of Malfoy. To have Noble Purebloods walking the halls of the Ancient House of Black is an honour. Mudbloods and Blood traitors, the rest of them.”

“Enough Kreacher.” The house elf glared at him, “We’ll see you soon, Mrs Malfoy. Sirius will show you the best way to contact Draco. I’ll wait outside for you.” He said to Draco.

He closed the door behind him and leaned against the wall opposite. He busied himself by staring at the way the wooden floor was buffed clean down the centre, all the dirt and grime pushed towards the sides from the years of foot traffic and lack of proper cleaning. The wallpaper was old and peeling. The very few paintings along the walls were dusty and faded, depicting fruits and scenery. He suspected that the owner didn’t want to put portraits in this area for fear of unsettling his usual clientele.

The door across from him opened and Draco stepped out. His expression was tight and pinched, his eyes were red rimmed, and his hands trembled slightly as he pulled the door closed behind him.

“She’s gone.” Draco said quietly. Harry straightened himself upright, he wanted to reach for Draco but he wasn’t quite sure how he would be received. He knew that Draco hated to be seen as vulnerable and Harry didn’t want to cement his vulnerability even more by pulling him into a hug.

“Harry…” Draco was watching him, his wide eyes began to tear up and the shiny film hovered on the surface. Harry opened his arms, at just one utterance of his name he finally understood exactly what Draco needed from him in that moment. Draco fled into his embrace, he buried his face into Harry’s shoulder and deliberately sobbed directly onto his black robes where his tears couldn’t be traced.

“It’s okay Darling.” Harry whispered, pressing his cheek to Draco’s hair.

“You saved my Mother,” Draco whispered against his neck, “I don’t know how I could ever repay-”

“No, Draco,” Harry cupped his chin and brought his face up from his shoulder, “No.” He repeated firmly. They locked eyes, “You owe me nothing and there’s nothing for you to repay.” Harry kissed him softly on the mouth.

Draco was quiet on their way back to Hogwarts. Suddenly the long walk through the pitch black tunnel didn’t seem quite long enough to get all of his thoughts in order. He followed behind Harry, staring at the movement of his back, following each step, up over a large rock, or down if the floor dipped suddenly underfoot. The walk to Hogsmeade took them almost an hour, the path back seemed to only last minutes. When they reached the end Harry pulled out the Marauders Map and checked to see if anyone was hanging around. Umbridge was in her office, Filch was skulking about the Entrance Hall, close to the hallway leading to the kitchens. All clear.

They emerged from behind the statue in silence. Draco snagged Harry’s hand and without a word he followed him up to the Gryffindor tower. Harry made no move to shake him off, he just clasped Draco’s hand in his own and continued to walk carefully up to the tower, stopping every now and then to check the map. They reached the portrait of the Fat Lady and, as usual, she looked down at Draco in his Slytherin robes and looked very put out when Harry spoke the password and led him inside.


	33. Chapter 33

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Spoiler Warning*  
> Scenes of a sexual nature  
> 50% plot, 50% porn

Ron and Hermione were sitting in front of the dwindling fire in silence, waiting on bated breath for their return. They stood, almost as one, when Harry climbed through the portrait hole with Draco following a step behind.  
  


“Is she-”  
  


“Did you-”  
  


Ron and Hermione spoke at the same time.  
  


“She’s fine, it all went to plan.” Harry said with a small smile. Draco didn’t say a word to either of them, he walked past Harry and straight up to Hermione. He hesitated in front of her for barely a second, the three Gryffindors didn’t say a word at his odd behaviour but Hermione did look at Harry with wide questioning eyes. Draco seemed to be overcoming something within himself and after his split second of indecision he threw his arms around her and hugged her tightly.  
  


Hermione was speechless for seemingly the first time in her life and her mouth dropped open in shock . She looked at Harry for support, desperately searching for the most appropriate reaction to Draco’s unusual emotional display. She brought her hands up and patted him on the back awkwardly, she liked to hug her friends as much as the next person but this was extremely unprecedented. Not even when she had saved his life in the Entrance Hall had he been so outwardly affectionate.  
  


“You helped save my Mother.” He said, when he had pulled away a few seconds later, “Thank you Hermione. I have no doubt it was this big oafs idea,” He cocked his head towards Harry who shrugged sheepishly and nodded, “But I am sure he wouldn’t have been able to do it without you.” He looked at Ron, “Or you, Ronald.” The name rolled off his tongue awkwardly and the red-head rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. Draco held his hand out for a hand shake.  
  


“Er, yeah, no problem…Draco.” His nose crinkled distastefully but he took Draco’s hand and pumped it up and down once before quickly letting go.  
  


“Oh, Merlin, no.” Draco blanched, “You can keep calling me Malfoy.” And he was back,  _ almost _ to his normal self.  
  


“Thank fuck, and Weasley will do just fine thanks.” Harry laughed as Draco nodded emphatically and Hermione rolled her eyes.  
  


“I agree, it felt wrong as soon as I said it.” He smirked at Ron.  
  


“Boys,” Hermione rolled her eyes but smiled at the three of them, “We’d all best be going to bed now. We just wanted to stay up to make sure you got back okay. You’ll tell us all about it tomorrow?” Hermione asked.  
  


“Yes, of course.” Harry agreed, and Hermione gave him a quick hug before heading towards the girls dormitories and disappearing up the winding stairs.  
  


“C’mon you. Bed.” Harry caught Draco's arm and tugged him up to the Fifth year boys dorm with Ron following behind.  
  
x  
  
“I left her there.” Draco whispered into the darkness twenty minutes later, after all three of them had used the bathroom, brushed their teeth and changed into pyjamas. Draco was wearing a particularly old shirt of Harry’s. It had a hole in the armpit, and a rip in the hem. Draco would have complained, as he was more used to the finer things in life, silk pyjamas that fit perfectly and bed sheets of fine linen, but he was comfortable and the shirt and the bed smelt like Harry.   
  


“You didn’t know.” Harry turned to him in the darkness, flipping himself around until he was laid on his side, his head propped up on his elbow. With his other hand he stoked a finger gently across Draco’s cheek, and Draco closed his eyes in pleasure at the tingle of magic that his touch left in its wake.  
  


“I just … left.”  
  


“You got yourself to safety. Do you think she would have wanted you to be trapped there as well?” Draco didn’t answer him, he twisted his finger in the rip at the bottom of the shirt.  
  


“She’s alive Draco,” Harry reminded him, “And she’s well, albeit a little tired but a long stay at Grimmauld Place will do wonders for her I think.”  
  


“What do you think happened to my Father? Will the Dark Lord think that he had something to do with this?” Draco asked.

  
“Ah… about that …” Harry winced, the explosives that they had gotten from the Weasley twins were extremely volatile, “We had to make sure that Voldemort didn’t suspect your Father of anything…”  
  


“What did you do?” Draco’s tone was accusatory.  
  


“Well … once your Mother was safe, we had Dobby…erm…blow up your bedroom.” Harry winced at Draco’s sharp intake of breath.  
  


“Completely?” He asked.  
  


“Practically a hole in the side of the house, according to Dobby. I’m really sorry. It was all we could think of to avoid suspicion of your Father. And it meant we could hide any trace of Dobby coming in and out.”  
  


“So … all my things? They’re destroyed?” He couldn't mask the sadness in his tone.  
  


“Your Mother packed up everything that wasn’t stuck down, but the room itself is gone. I’m so sorry.”  
  


“It’s- It’s okay. I understand why.” Harry found his face in the darkness and kissed his forehead, Draco’s magic curled in pleasure.  
  


“Thank you Harry. This was the most amazing gift you ever could have given me.” He found Harry’s mouth with his own and kissed him solidly.  
  


“I would be up for something.” Harry said, “But we’ve done tons of walking this evening and my legs are about to drop off.” Draco just laughed against his mouth and cosied down against Harry’s chest.  
  


“Tomorrow morning then.” Draco recommended, “And then I can top you in the evening because I swear it’s my turn by now.” Harry laughed and pulled him into a toe-curling, magic sparking, kiss.  
  


Harry fell asleep with Draco in his arms and an, 'I love you' dying on his lips.  
  


X  
  


Draco woke extra early the next day and it took him a few seconds to work out why. He was in Gryffindor tower, but no one seemed to be walking around outside of Harry's bed hangings, which usually woke him up. The light that came through the gaps in the curtains was low and hazy from the early morning sun on a cold day, but that wasn't nearly bright enough to wake him up either. And only then did he notice the hand down the front of his Gryffindor branded joggers, the circle of fingers wanking him in a loose and lazy grip. It was early… but it wasn't too early to enjoy Harry's ministrations.   
  


He pressed forward into Harry's hand very slightly, enough to let Harry know he was awake, but not so much as to stop his movements or change his pace. He was quite enjoying the slow pace, perfect for a lazy Saturday morning. Having realised Draco was awake Harry's mouth found its way to the pale column of neck in front of him. He began to trail soft open mouthed kisses across Draco’s skin, he was gentle and tender and the mood between them was light and easy. Draco reached back and gripped Harry’s hip, his fingers fisted in the loose pyjama bottoms as Harry began to press hips into Draco’s ass in smooth circular motions. Although they were both fully clothed their layers were loose and thin so it was only too easy for Harry’s hard cock to nestle between his cheeks with each forward motion.  
  


“Okay?” Harry asked, whispering into Draco’s ear. His breath ticked across the shell of his ear and made him shiver in delight.  
  


“Yes.” Draco’s answering whisper was almost lost in his throat as Harry nuzzled into his favourite place under Draco’s jaw.  
  


“More?” Harry asked again, he would have been happy with Draco’s answer either way. He was quite content to bring them both to orgasm with his slow movements, but would be equally happy to press into Draco for lazy morning sex.  
  


“Please.” Draco whispered.  
  


Harry reached for his wand with his free hand and whispered the  Ani Praelino charm, Draco groaned as the slickness of conjured lube slid out of him and seeped into the joggers. Harry moved his hand away from Draco’s erection, to slide it over his hip and down between his cheeks. Draco wasted no time in replacing Harry’s hand with his own, he slid his hand up and down copying Harry’s previous pace, and thoroughly enjoyed the way Harry’s fingers circled his entrance. He didn’t hurry his movements at all, he stretched Draco’s rim with a fingertip before pulling away and stroking his hole with the pad of his finger. Draco practically purred under his touch, his nerve endings were flared and waiting, his breath was getting caught in his throat and each exhale ended in a small keen of desire.  
  


Harry’s fingers finally pressed inside, and Draco pressed back onto it in invitation, his body wanted him to urge Harry to move faster, to do more, but he kept himself under control. After the emotion filled day they had just gone through he was quite content to be, for lack of a better word, petted. He wanted Harry to stroke his skin, and press kisses into his throat, and tell him how beautiful he was, and he wanted all this to be contained within this lazy Saturday morning bubble that they had created for themselves. Harry was tugging both of their trousers down now, Draco shimmied out of his, kicking them off towards the end of Harry’s bed and his cock bobbed against the sheets as it was released.  
  


“Good?” Harry asked, with three fingers stretching Draco open with leisurely cork-screw motions of his wrist.  
  


“Yes. More.” Draco almost whined at the loss of his fingers, the muscles of his channel grasping at nothing but air for the few seconds it took him to pull his hand away and line his cock up, “Please.” Draco whispered.  
  


“I’ve got you Babe.” Harry pressed in, slowly. Sliding his cock deeper in a deliberately steady motion, dragging out his entry as much as he could. The hitch of Draco’s breath and the small moan of relief at finally being given what his body had been begging for didn’t go unnoticed by Harry. He pulled out in one smooth motion before continuing the slow glide of his cock into Draco.  
  


He lost himself in Draco. His steady pace never faltered or increased. He was enjoying the small gasps and keens that released from the throat he was kissing. He worshipped Draco’s body, with his hands and his mouth. Harry shifted so that he could hook an arm under Draco’s thigh to urge him to lift his leg slightly, and that angle was … delightful. Harry threw his head back and his eyes drifted close. He sped up slightly, reading the movements of Draco’s hips like an open book. Faster, he was urging. The change in angle hit Draco in a way that nothing else could and he pressed back in desperation against Harry.  
  


They didn’t speak. They didn’t need to.   
  


Draco came first. His cum flying over the bed covers in front of him and half over his fist. Harry followed seconds afterwards, chasing his orgasm in the aftermath of Draco’s. Spilling into the tight heat before pulling out slowly. He still couldn’t see much in the low light of the early morning sun, so he busied himself with pressing kisses to Draco’s neck until the blonde was pushing him away with a weak groan and claims of sensitivity. Harry cleaned them with a couple of half-hearted cleaning charms before tugging Draco back into his arms. His chest aligned with Draco’s back and his nose pressed into Draco’s shoulder blade. Their magics were swirling happily between them.   
  


“Go back to sleep for a bit.” Harry yawned from behind him. Draco’s eyes drifted close and his body relaxed into Harry’s embrace like butter melting in front of a flame. His magic sang in delight and he felt Harry’s rush through him in return. He decided that he really could get used to such things.


	34. Chapter 34

Valentine's Day in Hogwarts was always a rather big affair. Especially this year. Dumbledore had gone all out at decorating the castle, his excuse (should somebody ask him) was to give the students as much happiness as possible before the darkness descended upon them. Umbridge on the other hand, although happy that her favourite colour was now blasted down every corridor and throughout the Great Hall and Entrance Hall, had become particularly spiteful. She was doling out detentions left, right and centre, and if any couple so much as held hands she was upon them in a moment. She was fully enforcing Educational Decree number nine as well, much to chagrin of the many suitors of Hogwarts.  
  
“Any student found in possession of sweets from unauthorised suppliers will be punished.” She was heard quoting as she once again confiscated and destroyed a box of chocolates, this time from a third year, who watched with teary eyes as her Valentine's Day present went up in flames.  
  
Harry, Ron and Hermione skirted past the fifth floor corridor where she was harassing a young Hufflepuff and rushed down to the Great Hall. Draco had slipped from Harry’s bed after getting a couple more hours of sleep, claiming that he needed to shower and change his clothes so he would see him in the Great Hall for breakfast. Harry was desperate to reach him before Umbridge made an appearance, he figured the gold box he was holding would definitely not be on her list of authorised suppliers and he knew he would also be in tears if Umbridge was to destroy 40 Galleons worth of chocolate.  
  
They made it down to the Great Hall in record time. Unlike most Saturday mornings, it was packed with students from third year and above, all of them eating breakfast as quickly as possible so they could escape to Hogsmeade for the day. Everyone was desperate to get out of the castle as early as they could, mostly to escape Umbridge’s reign of terror. Harry felt slightly sorry for the first and second years but he hoped they would be smart enough to stay in their common rooms as much as possible today. He spotted Draco immediately, his blonde hair stood out from the crowd like a beacon from the Slytherin table. He was sitting with Blaise and Pansy, talking to them about something or other as he spread a thin layer of jam over his slice of toast.  
  
Once they entered Hermione and Ron broke away from him to sit at the Gryffindor table, and Harry made his own way across the hall to the Slytherin table. The whispers picked up slightly, on the whole the student population of the school had become accustomed seeing the two of them together. There were still a few murmurings and a few heated glares. But for the most part, Harry would say that they were over it. But given that it was Valentine’s Day he figured that everyone was rather invested in what they would gift each other. He came to a stop next to Draco, close enough so that the Slytherin could swivel sideways on the bench and look up at him.  
  
“Happy Valentine's Day, Draco.” Harry said as he handed over the box of French chocolates, which was wrapped in gold paper and a rather gaudy but totally appropriate red ribbon. Harry was just thankful it hadn’t come in pink wrapping, he wasn’t sure he would be able to live that one down.  
  
“Debauve and Gallais?” Draco asked with a small smile hovering around the corners of his lips.  
  
“Only the best.” Harry answered before passing over his second gift, this one was wrapped in red paper, and he couldn’t take any credit for it, Hermione had transfigured some parchment for him and with a quick wave of her wand the newly red parchment had folded itself neatly around the box. Beneath the red paper, the mirror was shrunken and packed away inside a brown box that had a bright logo printed on the front - ‘ _ Complimenting Mirror! Build your confidence and pump up your ego’-  _ The mirror itself was spelled to return to normal size once the box was removed. Draco pulled the paper off and let out a very un-Slytherin snort before smiling up at Harry.  
  
“Thank you, Harry.” He stood up and kissed him quickly before Umbridge decided to make an appearance. Harry licked the residue of jam off his own lips as he half stumbled in a happy daze back to the Gryffindor table, leaving Draco to finish his breakfast with his friends. They would meet at the door to the Great Hall and walk down to Hogsmeade together anyway.  
  
“You’re a right state, you know mate?” Ron said when Harry flopped down onto the bench next to him, with a stupid love sick grin spread across his face.  
  
“Yeah, I know.” Harry answered with a carefree shrug. Ron just scoffed and rolled his eyes, he turned back to his breakfast and speared a sausage on his fork.  
  
“I, for one, think it’s lovely that Harry has found someone,” Hermione commented, “Even if it is Draco Malfoy. At least  _ someone  _ has noticed what’s right in front of him.”  
  
“Wha’s that s’posed to mean?” Ron asked, his cheeks bulging with sausage.  
  
“Nothing, Ronald.” Hermione turned her nose up at the half chewed mess in Ron’s mouth and put her knife and fork down on the edge of her plate, “What are you both doing today?” Hermione asked as she reached for a slice of toast, Ron’s lack of manners having put her off any of the meat products on the table.  
  
“Don’t know really. We’ll probably just wander about for a bit, not much to do there is there?” Harry shrugged.  
  
“No I suppose not. Do you think you’ll be able to come to the Three Broomsticks this afternoon?” She asked.  
  
“Don’t see why not." Harry stuffed the last of his toast in his mouth before climbing back over the bench, Draco had sent him a pointed look and had stood up from the Slytherin table, “Gotta go. What time do you want to meet?”  
  
“Three?”  
  
“Yeah sure, see you both later.” Ron waved him off and Hermione just smiled as he ambled over to Draco who was waiting in the open doorway for him to catch up. Harry wrapped his arm around Draco’s shoulders and kissed his temple as they disappeared from view. Hermione smiled to herself at just how nice they looked together. Before she glanced over at Ron who was still stuffing his face.  
  
“Really, Ron. You’re acting like you’ve never eaten before.”   
  
“Wha? I’m a growing boy.” She kicked him under the table and laughed as his knee jerked and hit the underside with a loud thud.  
  
X  
  
His morning and afternoon with Draco was rather enjoyable. They spent the day going in and out of all the shops that Hogsmeade had to offer. They shared a laugh over the frankly ridiculous Valentines section in Zonkos - ‘ _ Prank your way into their heart’ _ \- which offered bogus love potions, among other things. Draco was quick to point out that real love potions weren’t actually a bright bubblegum pink colour, unlike the substance that resided inside the heart shaped vials. Harry had bought a pack of confetti bombs - ‘ _ Explodes like a firework and fills a room in seconds _ ’ - which he thought would be a good way to celebrate their next Quidditch win. Draco had been rather taken with a Hex Cloak - ‘ _ Hexes your enemies behind your back’ _ \- but he was quick to complain that it wasn't a very flattering fit or colour ("It's just black." Harry had said, "It's a terrible shade of black" Draco had replied with his nose turned up).   
  
Honeydukes selection was as wide and varied as always, Harry was quick to grab a few bars of chocolate, claiming that Remus had taught him never to run out, and had contemplated a pack of ice mice. Draco was perfectly happy with his gift from Harry and felt no need to buy even more sweets. He knew he had quite the sweet tooth and he didn't want any more chocolate hanging around for him to eat in a moment of weakness. Unfortunately, Harry was quite the feeder, and when they made it out of the shop (fighting the throng of Hogwarts students with each step) he had passed over a bag of sugar quills.  
  
"They're your favourite." Harry shrugged offhandedly as he opened a chocolate frog and quickly bit its head off. Draco had blushed, and tucked the bag of fragile quills into his pocket as carefully as he could. The fact was, he couldn't remember telling Harry that they were his favourite. He had just … known.  
  
Scrivenshafts had been next on their little jaunt. Draco had tugged Harry into the little shop, which was mostly free of the usual crowd of students. He had picked up a few bottles of ink and complained loudly to Harry that ever since he had given him the two-way parchment, and then followed that up with the journal, his ink consumption had increased exponentially. Harry had silently slid a self inking quill over the counter with a smile. He had paid and left the shop with Draco at his side, and then handed the quill over to Draco without uttering a single word.  
  
"Will you stop buying me things." Draco said, as he stomped after Harry who had been drawn to the window of Sprintwitches Sporting Needs. Harry just shrugged as he regarded the small golden snitch sat in the window display on a red velvet cushion.  
  
"I like buying you things." He had explained, before pulling open the door and disappearing inside. Draco followed him, an insult quickly died on his tongue when he saw who was inside. Montague and Pucey were both looking at the shop's selection of padded chaser gloves. Harry was on the opposite side, looking at the broom cleaning kits and refills. He picked up a glass jar of broom wax and read the back, Draco straightened his shoulders and walked straight to his side without giving the Slytherins the benefit of a second glance. They watched him go, glaring at him without much care as to whether Harry saw or not. Once Draco was next to Harry he realised that the Gryffindor was not actually reading the instructions on the back of the jar. His head was cocked slightly to the side, he was listening to the conversation from the two Slytherins, and trying to glance at them out of the corner of his eye.   
  
"Hope you have as much fun fucking his Mother as you do fucking this little Bitch, Potter." Montague spat. Ah, so the news of his Mother’s escape had spread within the Death Eater circles, that had been fast even for their standards. Draco wondered whether they had been in the middle of a meeting when Dobby had blown up his bedroom and disappeared with his Mother in tow.  
  
Harry caught Draco's right arm just in time to stop him from reaching for his wand and hexing them across the shop.  
  
"Don't Draco." Harry said quietly, and then added an even quieter, "Umbridge." And then Draco noticed the shiny silver 'Inquisitorial Squad' badge pinned to Montagues chest, "He's not worth it." If it had been the threat of any other detention Draco would have hexed them anyway, but detention with Umbridge was another matter altogether. Harry was right, they definitely weren't worth the pain of the blood quill. He wouldn't allow Malfoy blood to be spilled over a Montague.  
  
The Slytherins guffawed and left the shop. Leaving behind Draco who was quivering in anger, and Harry who was almost inclined to let him go after them.   
  
"Come on, we'll stay in here for a few minutes until they've moved on. Now, which one do you think I should get for my Firebolt? And which one would you like for your Nimbus?" That seemed to pull Draco out of his own mind.  
  
"Stop buying me things!"  
  
"Not gonna happen."  
  
"You're infuriating." Draco threw his hands up in the air in exasperation. Harry just laughed and took a couple of jars up to the counter.  
  
"My gift is really going to suck, if you keep buying me all these extra things." Draco complained once again, when they were exiting the shop.   
  
"You got me something?" Harry asked, his eyebrows raising in surprise.  
  
"Of course I did. I couldn't very well expect you to get me a present and not return the gesture."  
  
"I thought you'd have given it to me by now, is all."  
  
"It's back at the castle. I was going to give it to you later." He shrugged and allowed Harry to step close. With it being the middle of February it was still fairly cold out. There were still piles of snow shifted up against the side of buildings and an inch of slush trampled up underfoot. As such, Draco was wearing a pair of wonderfully warm black suede gloves, which were spelled exactly to the measurements of his hands. He found himself fisting his hands in the front of Harry's outer robe, and despite the chilly air, he wanted more than anything to not be wearing those gloves right now. He wanted so desperately to cradle Harry’s jaw between his hands and feel the rough stubble against his palms. Harry leaned in, his hands found Draco's waist and he wasted no time in tugging him half a step closer.  
  
"I think you have a weird thing about kissing me in extremely public places." Draco murmured against his lips.  
  
"Mmm," Harry agreed, his breath a warm puff of air against Draco's nose and cheek, "I like showing you off."  
  
"You're a neanderthal." Draco answered. But Harry just laughed, and kissed him.


	35. Chapter 35

The moment Harry spotted Hermione in the bustling Three Broomsticks he was tempted to turn on his heel and walk away. She was sitting at the most unusual table, out of everyone Harry expected to see her with, Rita Skeeter and Luna Lovegood weren’t high on his list of possibilities.  
  
"What the fuck, Hermione?" Harry asked, after he'd stomped over to their table with Draco hot on his heels.  
  
"Rita is going to write an article." Hermione said calmly, "She's going to write exactly what you say and not a word more." The girl then turned to the reporter with a sharp glint in her eye, "Isn't that right Rita?"  
  
"No one will publish it. Whether I write it or not." She said, impetuously, "But this here is a story." Her eyes gleamed, in an almost hungry manner. The quick quotes quill that had previously been sat lifeless on the table quivered to life, "Harry Potter and young Mr Malfoy." She looked between them, "I would never have believed it of course, but then I've heard all the rumours. I never would have put the two of you together. Especially not after the words Mr Malfoy and I exchanged at our last meeting." The quill seemed to shake in anticipation, waiting for the interview to start.  
  
Draco winced, "Sorry." He said quickly when Harry's gaze shifted to him. Harry just shrugged and smiled at him, having long since forgiven each other for their past indiscretions.  
  
"Tell me Harry, what made you start a relationship with a boy who you're known to have a treacherous relationship with? Was it the thrill of Dark Magic that drew you in?" She was leaning forward, the quill sped over the parchment in front of her, filling in details that Harry was sure weren’t anywhere near the truth.   
  
"Enough." Hermione said, smacking the quill down flat, "Harry's interview will be about Voldemort's return only." The quill tugged itself free from between her hand and the table and shook it's feather straight, in what Harry could only describe as indignation, if it were possible for a quill to have feelings.  
  
"But it's a dreadfully dry topic." Rita complained.  
  
"What about a first hand account about what Death Eaters get up to behind closed doors?" Draco said suddenly.  
  
"Draco, you don't have to-"  
  
"That … would be really rather interesting." Her grin was all teeth, like a shark gearing up for an attack.  
  
"But you will publish it word for word." Hermione warned.  
  
"And you won't mention my relationship." Harry added as he finally sat down opposite her, with Draco following a moment later.  
  
"Oh but, it's such juicy news! The article would benefit from the clandestine love affair between a Malfoy and a Potter, a Slytherin and a Gryffindor, the ultimate Romeo and Juliet. It’s bound to sell hundreds more copies."  
  
"One paragraph on our relationship." Draco bargained, sparing a glance to Harry who nodded in agreement.  
  
"Three." She argued, "Every love story needs a beginning, a middle and an end after all."  
  
"Two. Since this relationship isn't anywhere close to ending you'll be able to cut that part out straight away, won't you?"  
  
"Fine." She huffed. But she screwed up the parchment that the quill had previously written on, and pulled a blank one close to her.  
  
"And we want to see the article before it's published." Hermione added.  
  
"I already told you. No one's going to publish it. An interview with Crazy Potter claiming You-Know-Who is alive, it's just not going to happen."  
  
"That's why Luna's here. Her Father owns the Quibbler." Luna finally looked at the group, having previously been staring into the corner of the ceiling.  
  
"Daddy's quite excited by it." She said in that dreamy way of hers, "He said it will be the best edition yet. But we have had to move our edition of the Crumple-Horned Snorkacks to next month." Harry really wanted to ask what Crumple-horned Snorkacks were, but he refrained. He knew the answer would just confuse him even more anyway.  
  
So Harry began to speak. He told her about the Tri-Wizard Tournament being fixed, about the trophy taking the two of them to a graveyard, about Voldemort's bone-chilling " _ Kill the spare _ ". When Harry's account ended, Draco took over. His started the summer after his fourth year, Voldemort taking residence in his house, the curses he used on muggles and his followers alike, the screams that echoed down the corridors. Harry's hand was clamped onto his knee the entire time. He was aware of who he was implicating, all the Fathers of his friends including his own Father. He was careful not to mention the Parkinson or Zabini name though. He didn't want to put his friends in that position. By the end of both of their statements Rita was pale. Her quill had taken down every word verbatim and even with all the information she had been given she didn't know whether she could even print most of it, the information was just too … horrific.  
  
"As for Draco and I," Harry began, "We decided in November to put rivalries behind us, we began to date and then I offered him and his mother protection from Voldemort which they have both received. Neither one of them is allied to Voldemort." The quill finished writing with a flourish before it dropped back down onto the parchment, lifeless.  
  
"I cannot put some of that in the article." She said simply.  
  
"You may pick and choose which parts of my statement are suitable for the mass audience. But for everything else you will tell it exactly as Harry said." Draco said. Rita nodded.  
  
"Right then, Harry, Draco, back to the castle?" Hermione asked, standing from the table and busying herself with pulling on various layers, "Luna, are you coming too?"  
  
"Hmm, no, I think I'll stay for a little while. There's an odd little cloud of Wrackspurts just up there, and I'm most interested in where they'll land." She said, still staring at the same corner of the ceiling.  
  
"We'll look forward to your owl with the finished article." Draco said, he flipped his cloak over his shoulders and followed Hermione and Harry out of the pub.  
  
"Probably could have done without that Hermione, if I'm honest." Harry said as they began their walk up to Hogwarts.   
  
"I know, I'm sorry. But it needed to be off school premises and it couldn't wait until the next weekend. That article just got me all wound up." She was talking, of course, about the one that blamed the Azkaban breakout on Sirius, "I just don't know how they can't see the truth by now."   
  
"They aren't prepared for their whole world to change," Draco pointed out, "The last war was bad enough, they can't comprehend that it's starting up again. They don't want to believe it." He stuffed his hands into his pockets and stared at the floor, kicking away stones with the toe of his shoe.  
  
"They're going to have to believe it eventually. Voldemort isn't going to stay under the radar for much longer." Harry said.  
  
x  
  
"Are you alright up there mate?" Harry cupped a hand over his mouth and yelled up to Ron who was Accio-ing Quaffles to himself and batting them away from the three goalposts. Harry was standing on the half frozen ground, his Firebolt thrown over one shoulder and dressed in a pair of jogging bottoms and a red and gold Gryffindor jumper. Draco stood by his side, leaning against the sleek Nimbus 2001 that was propped up against his shoulder, even three years later the black broom gleamed. Ron landed next to them heavily.  
  
"I went to Zonkos and Honeydukes then came back here, figured one less person at your meeting would be better. Besides, I need the practice."  
  
"You're doing great, what are you on about?"  
  
"I'm passable at best." Ron shrugged.  
  
"Get back up in the air Weasley. I'll happily throw a Quaffle at your face for an hour." Draco mounted his broom and hovered next to the two Gryffindors.  
  
"You're a Seeker. What makes you think you could get one past me?" Ron scoffed.  
  
"I'm only a Seeker because it was the only open spot on the team. I'm a  _ much _ better chaser." Draco grinned and floated slowly upwards, waiting for the two of them to get their act together and meet him in front of the goalposts.  
  
"Fair warning to both of you. My aim is shite." Harry said as he grabbed the Quaffle and tossed it up to Ron who passed it over to Draco.  
  
Draco hadn't been lying. He was a natural with the Quaffle. He and Harry volleyed it to each other across the pitch, and tried to score goals between them. The first few times it had been Harry who had tried to score, but his aim was so off that Ron was having to dart way past the goals to even catch it. So they decided that Draco should just do the scoring from now on. When simply throwing the Quaffle became too boring, he started throwing trick shots. Feigning to the left and batting it into the right with the tail of his broom. Throwing it up in the air and punching it in. On one occasion Harry's volley was so off centre that Draco had to swing from his broom to kick it solidly through the middle hoop. It landed right on target. But it was one of the only shots that did. Ron was doing pretty well, even Draco's feint shots hardly made it through.  
  
"Gotta say Weasley, you're better than you think. But if either of you tell anyone that I was out here I will kill you both. If the Slytherin team finds out I was practising with Gryffindors they'll kick me off the team so fast."  
  
"It would be their greatest mistake." Harry grinned, he pulled up next to Draco and leaned over to steal a kiss.   
  
"Flattery will get you very far, Potter." Draco leaned across the gap for another kiss.  
  
"Oy," Ron threw the Quaffle at them, which Draco promptly caught one handed, "No snogging on the field! This is a sacred place."  
  
"What about the broom shed?" Draco yelled back, throwing the Quaffle straight at Ron's face.  
  
"The broom- you two - errgh. This practice is over!" Ron descended quickly, leaving the couple hovering 50 foot above the ground and laughing maniacally.  
  
"He's such a sensitive soul." Draco commented.  
  
Just as they landed on the grass a paper crane bounced off Harry's head. It fluttered to the ground, the magic having worn off as soon as it met the intended target. He glanced between Ron and Draco before unfolding it slowly. Hermione's handwriting was easily identifiable after copying from her essays for the past 5 years.  
  
_ Library, ASAP _


	36. Chapter 36

"That's impossible." Harry said. He exchanged a glance with Draco who looked just as lost as he did with this new information. They were sitting opposite Hermione in the library. She had no less than five books spread open in front of her, and one of those she had pushed across the table for Harry and Draco to read. Ron hovered over their shoulders, reading the passage along with them.  
  
"It's not." She replied.  
  
"They don't exist." Harry tried again.  
  
"They do." Draco murmured next to him as he leaned further over the book. He continued to read on past the first paragraph - where Harry had stopped - in an attempt to try and process what Hermione was telling them.  
  
"It's rare though," Ron added, "Only a handful per generation these days. The world's a lot bigger now than it was a thousand years ago, and Witches and Wizards are spread further than ever before, kind of makes it hard to find each other."  
  
"But… How?"  
  
"It all fits Harry. I didn't make the connection before because it just didn't occur to me. But Tomes and Scrolls had a big Valentines display today and there were some titles that really caught my interest. I think this-" She pointed at the title of the chapter they were reading from, "-Is the reason for your connection."   
  
"But-" Harry began to protest, before he was cut off by Hermione flipping through the pages of a small book to her left.  
  
"Look here," She stacked it on top of the one that Draco was still trying to read through, "In China they call it the Red String of Fate. It's a magical cord that connects two people. And when you're fingers were touching you said it was like -"  
  
"A string." Harry finished.  
  
"Exactly. And this one here," She shuffled through the stack next to her, to point at a paragraph in a large old book with yellowed pages, "It explains why you're so drawn to each other. Two halves of the same whole."  
  
"But why _now?_ We've been in Hogwarts together for the past five years. _"  
  
_ "Here, see," she pointed to a line towards the bottom of the page, "Parallel and mutual evolution."  
  
"We both changed after Voldemort returned." Draco said, as the realisation dawned on him.  
  
"Exactly! For the first time both of you were moving in the same direction, you both wanted the same things, had the same goals. That was enough for your latent connection to come to light."  
  
"But … Soulmates?" Harry was still looking at his friends and Boyfriend desperately.  
  
"This is a _good_ thing Harry. It explains everything that's been going on. The magical connection, the mind connection, the way your magic created the Oath."  
  
"But doesn't this mean that we haven't actually chosen each other? That all of this was just fate being a dick and forcing us together?"  
  
"Soulmates don't always have a … sexual...connection. They can be siblings, co-workers, best friends." Hermione explained, as she flicked through another book to find the particular reference she was quoting, "The way you both expressed the connection was your choice. It would have been just as powerful if you had become friends, but you both chose to turn it into love."  
  
"Is this so bad?" Draco asked quietly, he was a bit hurt that Harry was protesting against it so much. This was supposed to be a once in a lifetime opportunity, it was thought to be impossible to find the other half of your soul. He had been raised on fairy tales of Soulmates and the general consensus was that they made your life better. He just couldn't understand why Harry thought this was a bad thing. Or maybe Harry thought it was a bad thing because his Soulmate was Draco?  
  
"I just wish _I_ could choose something, for once in my life."  
  
  
"And you wouldn't have chosen me?" Draco asked. Harry could see Ron wincing out of the corner of his eye. He knew he was striding into deep waters, and with every second of hesitation he was digging his hole deeper and deeper.  
  
"I don't know." He decided that honesty was the way to go. Because he really truly _didn't_ know. Would he have chosen Draco if they didn't have this bond between them? Would he have thought that Draco looked cute smudged with mud? Would he have admired the way the winter sun reflected off his blonde hair? He just _didn't know.  
  
_ Draco stood up suddenly. The legs of his chair scraped across the stone floor, screeching loudly across the library.  
  
"Right. Well, I guess I'll make this choice easy for you." He turned from the table and walked towards the end of the shelves, away from where they'd holed themselves up from the rest of the students (though they were far and few between, given that it was a Hogsmeade weekend). He paused when he reached the corner and with only a moment's hesitation he pulled the pendant out from under his shirt and over his head. He looked at it in his hand for a second, turning it this way and that as though he was memorising every detail, before he placed it on the edge of a nearby shelf and walked away. He didn't look back at Harry once. He wouldn't have been able to bear it.  
  
Harry watched him go. Confused between the ache in his heart that was screaming at him to follow Draco, and the voice in his head that was telling him that this probably wasn't real. He just didn't know what to do.  
  
"Harry," Hermione hissed at him, "Go after him." She urged. But he stayed sitting, staring at the book in front of him as though it had all the answers.  
  
"Come on mate, don't let it end like that." Ron clapped his hand down on Harry's shoulder.  
  
"I- I can't. I just need to think." He stood up then, and followed Draco out of the library. He found himself picking up the pendant on the way out. The warmth from Draco's body was quickly fading from the charmed metal, and it sat heavy in the palm of his hand. A solid reminder of what he had just lost.  
  
A few minutes later he found himself sitting on his bed in Gryffindor tower before he could even think about where he was heading. The journal was in front of him, sitting closed on top of his sheets. The two linked pendants sat to the side. He stared down at the dragon hide cover blankly, the metal emblem of the dragon on the front swayed its tail from side to side, enjoying the attention. He was so used to turning to Draco whenever his mind was in knots that he felt like he was physically restraining himself from picking up a quill.  
  
The fact was, he didn't know if he would have chosen Draco. He thought he was so in love with him. But how much of it was him? And how much came from this soulmate thing? He had known that there was something going on under the surface. He had known that his magic didn't flare up and flood his body at everyone's touch. He was all too aware of how odd it was that they could share magic. He _knew_ it wasn't normal. But it had come so naturally to both of them that they had accepted their connection without a care or a second thought.   
  
Harry wished he didn't know. He wished Hermione had never found out about damn soulmates. He picked up the journal and launched it across the room. An hour ago he had been laughing with Ron and Draco about how bad his aim was, but he didn't need good aim to be able to hit the stone wall that wrapped solidly around the walls of the tower. The mirror on the inside of the front cover crunched at the impact and it landed on the floor next to Neville's bed, sending out shards of shattered mirror across the rug.  
  
"Harry." Hermione said from the doorway, "Ron and I thought that you might need to talk to someone, and we both know how Ron is with feelings." Harry didn't reply, he was too busy staring down at the broken mirror to form a sentence.  
  
"Are you okay?" She asked, settling on the edge of Ron's bed and staring at him in pity.  
  
"No."  
  
"This is supposed to be a good thing. An amazing thing, actually. It's everyone's dream to find their soulmate."  
  
"My entire relationship was built on some mystical power that told Draco and I to be together. It wasn't us, we wouldn't have chosen each other in any other situation."  
  
"You don't know that." She answered, "I still don't think you get it, Harry. You've both been completely obsessed with each other since first year. You weren't 'mutually evolved' at that point, that wasn't your connection. That was you. It was you who noticed how he took his morning tea."  
  
"Black." Harry said.  
  
"His favourite sweet," _Sugar quills_ Harry thought.  
  
"The spell he uses for his hair?" Hermione raised an eyebrow as a challenge. That wasn't much of a secret, Draco spelled his hair back in place at the end of every Quidditch match, and Harry had been close enough quite a few times to hear it, "What I'm saying, Harry, is that you wanted to be with Draco even before this connection clicked into place. You were just too young to recognise it as anything more than hate."  
  
"I don't know Hermione. I think I was just so happy that this was a choice I made for once, and not something I was forced to do."  
  
"You both chose to make it a romantic connection. The book says that it's found more often in siblings or best friends, it wouldn't have pushed you into any relationship you both didn't already want."  
  
"I'll think on it."  
  
"See that you do." She stood up and rounded the bed, heading for the door.  
  
"And clean that up, before Neville loses a toe." She pointed at the smashed up mirror and left the room in a flourish.  
  
X  
  
Draco also waited until he was in the comfort of his own dorm to destroy something. He attempted to kick his trunk across the room but it was heavy, so he only succeeded in making it shuffle a couple of inches across the floor. Having not suitably released all of his anger he picked up the bags from Hogsmeade (which he had dropped on his bed in the process of grabbing his broom earlier) and threw them at the wall. The ink bottles flew out and exploded against the stone, splattering black ink over everything in that corner of the room. Then he grabbed the neatly wrapped gift from his bedside table and without a second thought he sent it flying in the same direction, he heard the satisfying crunch of a finely crafted glass dragon shatter within it's box, and finally his anger was appeased.   
  
Draco looked at the mess he had made, he regarded it with a cold indifference, and for the first time in months he felt like the Draco Malfoy from Fourth year. He didn't care that he had just destroyed something that he had only just bought. He didn't care that ink had splattered across Theo's pillow and Blaise's bedside table. He didn't care that the things that Harry had bought him lay destroyed amongst glass and puddles of black ink. All except the chocolate, which still sat on his bed in the original wrapping paper. Fourth year Draco would have tried to get his revenge. But since he was still in love with the tosser he didn't think he could pull off anything more than a Tarantallegra or a Jelly Legs, which wouldn't really get his point across at all.  
  
"Draco!" Pansy exclaimed from the doorway, where she was standing with Blaise. They had seen him stride through the common room looking like he was ready to murder someone, and had followed him up to the dormitory in a hurry, just in case he really _was_ going to kill someone, "What's going on?"  
  
"Potter and I are soulmates, apparently." Draco replied, emotionless and expressionless.   
  
"Wow," Pansy replied, slowly, "Congratulations?"  
  
"Not quite," He laughed, cold and cruel, "Potter has decided that he no longer wishes to continue with this relationship."  
  
"What?" Blaise spoke finally from Pansy's side.  
  
"Is he some kind of idiot?" Pansy asked. She walked further into the room and pulled him into a tight hug, "This is once in a lifetime type stuff, why would he-"  
  
"Potter, believes that this connection of ours has forced him into making a choice that he wouldn't otherwise have made."  
  
"That's not how soulmates work." Blaise argued hotly, indignation clear on his face.  
  
"Yes, well, he found out about our connection and he has revised his previous decisions regarding me." His friends were silent for a few moments.   
  
"But Draco …" Pansy started slowly, exchanging glances with Blaise as she spoke, she was hesitant to point it out but she thought it needed to be said, "Potter was your only protection within the school. Without Potter … you're vulnerable." Draco hadn't wanted to ponder on that fact too much.  
  
"I'll be perfectly fine without him." Draco snapped, "I don't need him and I don't want him." He was crying, he noticed. And his knees were buckling. Pansy still hung onto him as he half collapsed to the floor. She sank down to her knees beside him and cradled his head against her shoulder, allowing him to hide his face in the folds of her robes.  
  
"I don't want him." Draco lied through barely contained sobs. Blaise helped Pansy lift him up onto Draco's bed. They climbed in with him, kicking off their shoes in the process, and closed the curtains while casting a silencing charm to hide the three of them from the rest of their dorm mates. They arranged themselves with Draco between them, his head still pressed against Pansy's shoulder and Blaise with his arm thrown around them both. It was a rare display of care and emotion from the usual uptight Slytherin, and Draco knew that he really must look a state for Blaise to get so emotionally involved.  
  
"Why doesn't he want me?" Draco whispered, into the silence of their little hideout once he had controlled his tear ducts.  
  
"Because he's an idiot." Blaise supplied.  
  
"He's not an idiot." Draco defended glumly.  
  
"Draco, he just dumped you. How can you defend him?" Pansy tugged at his hair lightly in admonition. Draco just shrugged in response and pressed his face into her robes.  
  
“Give him a couple of days,” Blaise advised from Draco’s other side, “Potter can be a bit of an idiot sometimes, but he’s not a complete fool. He’ll come to his senses.” Pansy gave him a look which said ‘how do you know’ and Blaise could only shrug, ‘I don’t’ in response.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The big reveal? 
> 
> I wasn't sure whether to tag this as a Soulmate fic or not. I didn't want to give away the plot in the tags. Let me know if I should tag it or leave it as a surprise, I'd really like to know your opinions :)


	37. Chapter 37

The news that Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy had split up spread through the school like wildfire, as all gossip did within the walls of Hogwarts. By lunchtime the next day Draco was ducking his head over his plate in the Great Hall, trying to make himself look as small as possible. He was now seen as fair game, people had realised that Harry Potter wouldn't be jumping to his aid at any moment. Even the Slytherins up and down his house table were whispering abuse about him, especially those whose families were still in good favour with Voldemort.   
  
“Did Potter fuck you and chuck you?” Was probably the mildest one he’d heard so far.   
  
Ravenclaws were passing around money between them, as one Sixth year was tallying off names and amounts. Draco wondered what the terms of the bet had been, maybe that Harry would be the one to leave him? Would they even have won? Harry didn't choose him when it had counted the most, but it had been Draco who walked away first. Even Hufflepuffs were taking a stab at him, the whispers from their table followed him out of the Great Hall as he left after lunch. None of them would actually dare to say anything to him, so their ridicule was whispered in ears and muttered behind hands.  
  
"His family must be awfully embarrassed." He heard a Hufflepuff fourth year mutter as he passed. A Pureblood Draco thought, but he couldn't quite place the face to any that had been in his Father's circle of acquaintances. He turned to face the boy slowly.  
  
"Your family were embarrassed when you became a Hufflepuff." Draco said, and he strode away from the busy Hall without a second glance. It wasn't his best comeback, but he truly had no idea who the kid was, and to try and guess at his name and heritage would be more embarrassing for him than the Hufflepuff boy.  
  
He spent the day avoiding anyone and anything that reminded him of Harry. Draco didn’t want to see him. Even one glance at him and Draco knew that he would just collapse at his feet, begging him to reconsider. Who could survive the knowledge that the person who was supposed to be the other half of your soul didn’t want anything to do with you? He’s just glad that the whole Soulmates thing wasn’t common knowledge, he didn’t think he would have been able to face the humiliation.  
  
On Sunday it had been easy enough to hide out and ignore Harry’s entire existence, but Monday soon rolled around, and all of a sudden it wasn’t that easy. At breakfast Draco ignored Harry’s presence at the Gryffindor table, he didn’t even look up to see how he was handling their break-up. Draco couldn’t bear it if Harry looked his normal perfect self, especially when he looked such a mess himself. Pansy was sitting next to Draco and she speared a sausage aggressively while glaring at the Gryffindor table. Draco suspected that she was imagining the dismemberment of a certain fool.  
  
"How's he look?" Draco asked, unwilling to lift his gaze from his plate for even one second.  
  
"Miserable," Pansy was always a bad liar, "Like his life is ending." She turned to Draco with a look that said 'I'm sorry' and continued to glare at the Gryffindor golden boy, who looked perfectly normal.  
  
"I just can't believe that he would convince you to leave your family and turn your back on everything you've ever known and then two months later dump you. What kind of sadistic prick does that?" She ripped into a piece of bacon with a fierceness that made Draco lean away from her slightly, "Does he just get off on people being indebted to him?" Draco shrugged, and shifted the scrambled eggs around on his plate with the tines of his fork.   
  
"Eat something Draco, don't starve yourself over that speccy bastard." He scooped up a forkful of eggs and forced himself to chew and swallow.  
  
The biggest problem he had with trying to avoid Harry were their joint lessons. In Transfiguration he had convinced Pansy to switch seats with him so that he was a row in front of Harry. Before, he would have been able to look to his left and see Harry sitting three desks away at the end of their row. But now, to look at the Gryffindor he would have had to turn ninety degrees in his chair, it wasn't quite as far away as Draco wanted but it would have to do. In Defence he switched sides with Blaise to make sure that Harry was completely out of his eye line. He knew that his previous seat gave him the perfect view of Harry. Who, from his own seat, had been able to look over his shoulder and shoot Draco smiles and lingering glances. Draco didn't want the back of his stupid messy head to be in his peripheral vision if he could help it.   
  
The difficulty came with Potions. Draco took his normal table at the back of the class, and begged anyone and anything that Harry wouldn’t sit next to him. A book was placed down next to his elbow, and Draco braced himself for Harry's green eyes and messy but perfect hair, but it was Hermione who sat down next to him.  
  
“I’m sorry,” She said, halfway through the lesson. Draco jumped, it was the most any Gryffindor had spoken to him so far, “He’s being an idiot. How are you?” She looked at him in sympathy.  
  
“Apparently, stupid enough to fall in love with an idiot.” He answered, and stirred in the lacewing flies.  
  
“Harry will come around.” She passed him the perfectly sliced dandelion root. “He made himself very clear.” Draco stirred their potion three times clockwise and ignored her concerned gaze.  
  
By the end of the lesson he was frazzled at best. Hermione hadn't mentioned Harry again, she'd sat next to him, dutifully handing him ingredients and reading from the instructions in the textbook. When the bell rang signalling the end of the lesson she waved him on ahead of her. He was glancing at Harry out of the corner of his eye, hoping that he could escape the classroom before he and Weasley could tidy up their bench.  
  
"I'll take care of this. You go." Hermione nudged him towards the door with a kind smile.  
  
"Thanks." He murmured as he grabbed his bag and slipped out of the classroom.   
  
He was almost out of the maze of the dungeons when he felt the trip jinx hit his back. He wasn't expecting it. It had been months since anyone had attacked him. He should have been a lot more aware of his surroundings and he wouldn’t have been flying face first towards the floor. He managed to turn his head to one side in the split second before he landed on his face. A busted cheek would be a lot easier to deal with than a broken nose. A knee planted in his back as soon as he was face down and lying prone on the floor, and a wand pressed deeply into the back of his neck.  
  
Fuck, Draco thought.  
  
"Even golden boy Potty got sick of you, ey Malfoy? The novelty of a Slytherin sucking his dick wore off, did it?" Draco couldn't turn his head to look at his attacker's face, and he had no idea who the voice belonged to. It was a male, that was obvious, and probably a Slytherin. Older, maybe. Certainly bigger.  
  
"My Father was Crucio-d over the little stunt you pulled," Ah, definitely a Slytherin then, and someone with a Death Eater Father, "If you say sorry, Malfoy, and if you really mean it, I might make this easy for you."  
  
"What do you think you're going to get away with inside Hogwarts?" Draco ground out, the raw skin on his cheek scraped against the stone floor as he spoke.  
  
"Anything I want. Umbridge won't tell me off for stopping a rule breaker like you. You know, she actually liked you in the beginning. I thought for sure you would become her little pet." So it was someone in the Inquisitorial Squad, "What do you say Malfoy? Do you want to apologise?"  
  
"And what? You won't hex me?"  
  
"Of course I'm not going to hex you," The knee was taken off his back and the heavy weight of someone's entire body took its place. Draco had to stop himself from gasping for air. The Slytherin leaned over him, his chest pressed almost completely against Draco's back, in an unwelcome imitation of the way Harry had held him only two days earlier, "I'm going to Crucio you." The boy hissed, his breath was hot against Draco's ear and it made him want to cringe away, "But if you give me a pretty apology, I'll make everything else that follows good for you too." Draco doubted that very much.  
  
"Get. Your. Hands. Off. Me." Draco hissed out, as his breath was pressed out of his lungs by the weight on his back.  
  
"No Potty Potter to save you this time Pretty Malfoy." Draco was acutely aware of his wand pressing into his chest from the inside pocket of his robes. But unless he could suddenly do wandless magic it was utterly useless.  
  
"Expelliarmus!"   
  
Harry.   
  
Draco breathed a sigh of relief.  
  
"Get. Up." The Gryffindor sounded furious. Draco felt the weight leave his back and he was finally able to look behind him at his attacker. Warrington. He should have known. Harry's wand was lodged firmly into the other Slytherin's Adam's apple and his eyes were spitting fire.  
  
"Draco, are you okay?" Harry asked. It was the first time Draco had heard his voice since the library, and he closed his eyes as it washed over him. Even as furious as he was, Harry's voice was intoxicating, "Draco?"  
_  
'Draco darling' _ flickered through his memory.  
  
"Yes. Yes, I'm fine."   
  
"Walk." Harry commanded, he grabbed the Slytherins shoulder and turned him in the direction of the Entrance Hall, with his wand pressed firmly into Warrington's back. Hermione and Ron rushed to Draco’s side once Warrington was out of the way. Ron clasped his arm and pulled him to his feet smoothly.  
  
"I think I can heal that." Hermione said, motioning to his cheek.  
  
"I think it's broken." Draco pointed out.  
  
"Maybe leave it to Pomfrey then?" She said with a frown, "I wouldn't want to do it wrong."  
  
"I trust you." Draco said, he looked at her with a sincere expression. She had been doing well during their healing sessions with the DA, "Just concentrate. And please don't ruin my face."   
  
She took a deep breath and pointed the tip of her wand at his cheek, "Episkey." With a crack, and a jolt of pain that made his eyes water, he was suddenly able to move his face without searing pain.  
  
"Got his wand." Ron said from behind her, where he had been searching the floor for Warrington's wand, which had gone flying out of his hand when Harry had cast Expelliarmus.  
  
"Come on. We should make sure Harry hasn't killed him." Hermione said. Draco followed the two of them up to the Entrance Hall and then proceeded up the multiple flights of stairs to Dumbledore's office.  
  
"How did you know I was in trouble?"  
  
"The Oath." Hermione pointed out. Damn, Draco had forgotten about that.  
  
"And he gave a shit?"  
  
"Of course he did!" Hermione replied as they began to hurry down the corridor towards the hidden entrance of the Headmasters office, "Harry cares a great deal about you."  
  
"Forgive me if I don't believe you." Draco stepped onto the moving staircase and turned away from her, crossing his arms across his chest impetuously.  
  
"Harry ruined his Sunday, and mine by the way, by crying about you over an entire cake that Dobby brought up from the kitchens." Ron admitted.  
  
"Doesn't prove anything." Draco said as the stairs brought them to the door of the office.  
  
"-him expelled!" Harry's voice greeted them. Dumbledore must have said something in reply because Harry continued to shout, "It's not acceptable! You have students who aren't safe here!"  Hermione opened the door quietly, and they could finally hear Dumbledore's side of the argument.  
  
"I have no power over it Harry. You know Professor Umbridge and the Ministry is keeping watch over the school."  
  
"He threatened to Crucio, Draco. This isn't just a school argument. Draco could be in serious danger."  
  
The three of them edged into the room. Warrington was Incarcerous-ed to a chair, and probably under a Silencio if the movement of his silent lips were any indication. Draco's breath caught in his throat at the way Harry stood in front of Dumbledore. He had pulled himself up to his full height, his shoulders were thrown back and his head was held high.  _ This _ was the Harry Potter that Draco had fallen for. Powerful and confident.  
  
"Mr Malfoy, Miss Granger, Mr Weasley. Please take a seat." Dumbledore waved his wand and three more chairs appeared in front of his desk. Harry remained standing, his arms were crossed, and his wand was still clenched tightly in one hand.  
  
"We can be witnesses, Sir." Hermione offered, "We saw the whole thing."  
  
"Thank you Miss Granger, but that won't be necessary. Mr Malfoy I must ask, how are you?"  
  
"I'm fine sir. He broke my cheekbone," Harry's jaw clenched, but Draco didn't dare look up any further than his jaw, and Harry made no move to look down at him, "But Hermione healed it."  
  
"Well done, Miss Granger, quite the achievement." Dumbledore regarded Draco over his half moon glasses.  
  
"Harry would like Mr Warrington expelled," Harry nodded fiercely, "Do you believe that is a fitting punishment Mr Malfoy? Do you feel like you are in danger within Hogwarts?"  
  
"I-" Harry finally looked at him and he stumbled over his words. Having Warrington expelled seemed like it would just bring more trouble than it was worth, but he also really didn't want to be in that situation ever again, "I think it is appropriate, Sir. I don't feel safe with him in the school." He admitted slowly.  
  
"Very well. I will see what I can do within the confines of the Ministry's grip. I will do my best to remove him from this institution, Mr Malfoy."  
  
The old Wizard looked at the four of them one last time, "You are dismissed." He said, motioning to the door. They got the hint and the four of them left the office quickly, and rushed down the spiral staircase.  
  
"Thank you." Draco said. He met Harry's eyes and he wanted nothing more than to hug and kiss him.  
  
"Watch your back next time." Harry said stiffly, before turning and walking away. Ron rolled his eyes and followed after him. Draco watched as the red-head caught up with him and began to talk into his ear.  
  
“There’s a DA meeting tonight, please come.” Hermione laid a hand on his arm and squeezed gently, “You’re my friend too.” Draco just shrugged one shoulder non-committedly.  
  
"Hopefully I'll see you later." She said, and she too turned and rushed off after the other two thirds of the trio.


	38. Chapter 38

Draco thought about Hermione's invitation for the rest of the afternoon, he had attended his last two lessons of the day but he couldn't have told you the content if he had even tried.  The DA had accepted him, with almost open arms. But that had been when Harry had vouched for him, he wasn’t sure how they would react to him now that he and Harry were no longer an item. He was sure that they would go back to treating him with contempt. And there was Harry himself. Harry wouldn’t want him there, he was almost certain of it. It was a shame really, he had actually started to make friends with people outside of his own house, people he would have never given the time of day to before.   
  
By the end of his last lesson of the day, he had decided not to go.   
  
By the beginning of dinner he decided he would go. Hermione had been right after all, he had friends there too.  
  
By the end of dinner he changed his mind again. The friends he had made weren’t going to suddenly switch their loyalty from Harry to him. He would still be whispered about, especially by those who hadn’t been all that happy about his attendance there in the first place, Justin Finch-Fletchley and Zacharias Smith came to mind.  
  
By 7pm He had thoroughly decided that he definitely wasn’t going to go. Absolutely. So, he couldn’t really explain why he was pacing the staircases between the third floor and the seventh floor with Harry’s invisibility cloak thrown over his head, which was thankfully hiding his dithering from any prying eyes. The invisibility cloak was the only reason he was even considering going to the DA meeting, he knew he had to get it back to Harry somehow and this really was the perfect opportunity. He could just hand it over once the meeting was finished with and then walk away. He could definitely do that...Definitely.  
  
“-Quite alright, Miss Edgecombe.”   
  
Draco heard voices travelling down the third floor corridor and he stopped his pacing at the bottom of the staircase so he could hear exactly what was being said (another trait of Harry's that had unfortunately rubbed off on him). Umbridge. Draco sneered to himself and turned away to climb the stairs once more but stopped still when he realised he knew who she was talking to. Edgecombe could only be Marietta Edgecombe, the Ravenclaw From the DA. Draco figured this was most decidedly not good.

“The Potter boy won’t get away with this. Mr Filch, if you could fetch the Inquisitorial Squad, I believe we have a chance to catch Potter in the act.”   
  
Draco immediately thundered up the stairs and fled towards the seventh floor hallway, not giving a damn about the noise he was making or the way the invisibility cloak was flapping around his ankles, baring his feet to the world. He was out of breath when he finally made it to the seventh floor corridor but he didn't allow himself to think about the stitch in his side or the cramp in his leg as he legged it down the length of the corridor to the hidden door opposite the ugly tapestry (he didn't run as a general rule, and he was regretting that decision immensely right now). He couldn't believe he had to waste precious time pacing back and forth in front of a goddamn blank wall at a time like this, and by his third turn his pace had slowed down immensely but it didn't stop him from slamming into the room of requirement without hesitation. He pushed the door open so hard that it rebounded off the wall with a loud bang and immediately alerted the entire DA to his presence. All the wands in the room were pointed in his direction before he even had the chance to pull the invisibility cloak off. It seemed that Harry's training was paying off.  
  
“Umbridge,” Draco gasped out, doubling over in an attempt to catch his breath, “She knows.” Harry pushed his way to the front of the group and looked down at Draco who was bent almost double with his hands braced against his knees. He was gasping for air to relieve the stitch in his side so it took him a second to realise that no one was moving, not an inch. Draco looked around at the stunned faces and he couldn't believe he had to actually spell it out for everyone, apparently there were some things you couldn't train into people, “She’s coming!”  
  
Harry turned to the students behind him, they were looking at him in horror, with wide eyes and open mouths. No one made any move towards the only exit in the room. Almost as if they were frozen in place, waiting for Harry's explicit permission.  
  
“What are you waiting for? Run!” Harry exclaimed. 

All at once thirty students tried to leave simultaneously, pushing Draco to one side with the force of their stampede. But there was only one door and everyone couldn't leave through it at the same time, as soon as Draco realised this he silently begged the room for more exits. Doors of all shapes and sizes began to pop up around the edges of the room, giving the frightened students plenty of much needed escape routes. Draco wanted to sigh in relief but no one was headed to the new found exits, in their panic they hadn't noticed and were still trying to push their way out of the main door.  
  
“Over here!” Hermione corralled, trying to disperse the bottleneck of students. The Weasley twins grabbed a couple of the Hufflepuffs by their robes and dragged them to the first available door. A few of the Ravenclaws escaped through the next one, finally listening to Hermione's desperate yelling. It only took those two Ravenclaws to break the seal and soon students were fleeing across the room in all directions. It was chaos. And Draco couldn't believe that they had never talked about an appropriate exit strategy for this very situation.  
  
“Harry!” Ron yelled across the room as he and Hermione were about to disappear through one of the newly created exits, “Move it!”  
  
In the hubbub of the escaping students Harry looked over everyone for half a moment, making sure that everyone was making it out of the room safely. And then he grabbed Draco’s wrist. The flare of Harry's magic against his skin was as familiar to him as his own and by Merlin he _missed_ it.  
  
“I-I can’t.” Draco gasped as Harry tried to get him to run, he was still trying to catch his breath from his sprint up the four sets of staircases.  
  
"You can. You _have_ to. Come on.” Draco groaned slightly as his muscles complained and his legs ached. But he still allowed Harry to pull him from the room. They exited onto a long stretch of hallway and Harry tugged him down it in a half run, which was all the energy Draco was able to expend.  
  
“Where. Are. We?” Draco asked, gasping for breath and barely managing to speak at all.  
  
“Not sure, second floor, maybe?” He began pulling tapestries away from the walls as they jogged down the corridor.  
  
“What are you doing?” Draco tried to tug his hand away but Harry held onto him tightly and urged him to keep moving.  
  
“Here! Knew there was one of these somewhere down here.” Harry pulled Draco into the small alcove just as an explosion rocked through the hallway. Draco hesitated long enough to see chunks of stone flying from the wall they had just come through. The door had disappeared once it closed behind them. They should have known that it wouldn't stop Umbridge, he wouldn't be surprised if she was blasting through all the exits in a desperate attempt to catch anyone she could. Draco hoped that everyone had managed to get away.  
  
He was so focused on members of the Inquisitorial Squad striding down the corridor that he had hardly noticed how close he and Harry were. The alcove was small and they were forced to stand face to face, pressed together chest to chest with barely a few inches between them.   
  
Umbridge's lackeys strode up and down the corridor a few times. They got to the end, and stuck their wands around the corner to take a peek down the next corridor. Harry was pretty sure no one in the DA was stupid enough to hang around the corridors after almost being discovered attending an illicit meeting. A couple of them started pulling tapestries back and Harry's breath caught in his throat. The threat of being caught was more acute than ever. Harry's breath caught in his throat as a Slytherin stopped in front of the tapestry they were behind.   
  
Draco was still breathing heavily, he was wheezing on each exhale and gasping for air on every inhale. Harry's hand clapped tightly over his mouth as the Slytherin seemed to almost cock his ear towards them. Harry held a finger to his own lips and Draco nodded in understanding. They looked into each other's eyes for a few seconds. Locked in place with their bodies pressed together and Harry's hand clamped over Draco's mouth.   
  
"Nothing but wall behind all of these." The Slytherin complained, after trying a few of the tapestries and deciding that checking the rest really wasn't worth his time.  
  
"Come on. Let's try one of the other doors. I bet they're all gone by now though." Harry and Draco were treated to the sound of retreating footsteps.   
  
"I think they're gone." Harry whispered a minute later. But neither of them made any attempt to move. The Slytherin felt like he was frozen in place, he could feel the hard planes of Harry's chest against his own. The line of Harry's thigh pressed tightly against his. One shift, a couple of inches to the left, and Draco would be able to feel the all too familiar press of Harry's cock. He shivered at the thought.  
  
"Who was it?" Harry whispered, his breath fanning out against Draco's cheek.  
  
"Edgecombe." Harry looked shocked, his eyebrows rose up his forehead and his eyes were wide with surprise. They were silent once again.  
  
Draco clenched his eyes closed in the darkness and bit his lip to stop himself from doing something entirely stupid like moaning out loud, or admitting his undying love to his Ex-Boyfriend. He almost jumped when Harry's hands came up to rest on his waist, surely this wasn't normal behaviour for an ex? Draco's breath hitched in his throat when Harry rested his forehead on his shoulder and he almost fainted when Harry turned his head to the side, his breath sliding hotly against the curve of his neck.  
  
"I'm sorry." Harry whispered. Draco didn't answer. He should have done, all his silence gained him was Harry's hands fisting even tighter in his robes.   
  
"I made you some promises," Harry continued, whispering into the skin of Draco's neck, "And I broke all of them." Draco didn't know how to respond. He was so busy relishing in the tingle of Harry's magic that he wasn't sure he would have been able to form a response if he had tried.  
  
"You turned away from everything to choose me," Draco leaned into Harry's warmth, "And when it mattered the most I should have chosen you." Harry finally looked up, the barely there light that seeped through the almost threadbare tapestry glinted off his impossibly green eyes.  
  
"I'm sorry," Harry repeated, "Please forgive me?" Draco was so close to giving in.  
  
"I- Earlier?"  
  
"Hmm?" Harry nuzzled his neck very slightly, just the gentle brush of Harry's nose against the curve of his jaw.   
  
"You didn't want anything to do with me, you were angry with me when Warrington attacked me." Harry raised one hand to cup against Draco's cheek and he didn't know whether to pull away or lean into it.  
  
"I was pissed off at myself, for putting you in that situation. I should never have left you alone."  
  
"You know, break-ups usually last longer than two days." Draco pointed out, he wanted to sound stern and steadfast, but since his voice had barely been a breathy whisper he was sure that his intention had been lost entirely.  
  
"I guess I should be grateful that I came to my senses sooner rather than later. Being away from you for two days was bad enough." Draco silently agreed, "What do you say? Forgiven?"  
  
"Only an idiot would push his Soulmate away," Draco smirked as Harry's mouth twisted in regret, "But I expect serious grovelling."  
  
"Done."  
  
"And presents."  
  
"Anything."  
  
"And I expect you to kiss me within an inch of my life." Harry grinned as his hands came up to cup Draco's flushed cheeks. He encouraged Draco to tilt his head to one side with gentle pressure. Harry hovered over him for a couple of seconds. His gaze bore into Draco's, his pupils were blown wide from a combination of the low light and his desire for Draco.  
  
"I love you." Harry whispered as he cradled Draco's face in his hands, "I'm sorry that I forgot that for a moment."  
  
"I love you too." Draco breathed out against the swell of Harry's lips. And Harry finally pressed his mouth to Draco's.  
  
Draco slid his arms around Harry's neck and held on tightly. He felt himself being swept up in their kiss. He drew Harry's bottom lip between his teeth before licking his way into Harry's mouth. And then Harry's tongue was doing that _thing_. And Draco's hips were rolling up to crash against Harry's. And Harry was pressing him even harder against the wall behind them (which frankly Draco didn't believe could happen considering their current close quarters). Harry's hands were sneaking under his shirt, pressing against the flushed skin of his stomach and sliding around to his back. Draco pulled away and hissed through his teeth at his cold hands.  
  
"Sorry." Harry chuckled. But he took a break from Draco's mouth and tipped the blondes head back so he could reach the welcoming column of his neck.  
  
"Come back to Gryffindor?" Harry asked.  
  
"Not a chance," Draco smirked, "I'm not sleeping with you until you've grovelled for a suitable amount of time." Harry laughed against his neck.  
  
"Okay, but I'm walking you back down to Slytherin."   
  
"Deal."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The response to the last chapter was phenomenal. Thank you all so much! Please keep commenting I honestly live off them and I try and respond where I can.
> 
> Much love to all of you!!


	39. Chapter 39

Harry woke extra early the next day. He got dressed quickly and rushed down to the Great Hall, for the first time ever he was early enough to witness the breakfast appearing on the house tables. He settled himself at the end of the Gryffindor table, as close to the large double doors as possible, and waited. He had managed to touch base with all the Gryffindor members of the DA when he had made it back to the common room the night before. Thankfully all of them had made it back to the common room safe and sound, and he was sure that Seamus’s account of getting into a full duelling match with a Seventh year Slytherin and exploding a statue bust next to his head, effectively knocking him out, was entirely fictional. But he hadn’t had the chance to check in on anyone from the other houses, which was why he was currently waiting in the Great Hall, shredding an orange to pieces at arse o'clock in the morning.   
  
He was already surrounded by chunks of orange skin when students finally started to enter the Hall but no one from the DA turned up until the Great Hall was half full. Ernie McMillan, Justin Finch-Fletchley and Zacharias Smith all walked in together and sat at the Hufflepuff table opposite Harry. Justin looked up at him with a nod and a quick smile, before going about his breakfast routine, he might be an arse sometimes but at least he acknowledged Harry's questioning stare. Harry relaxed slightly, he was sure if anyone from Hufflepuff had been caught by Umbridge, that Justin would look a bit more worried than the easy expression he was currently sporting. Harry’s suspicions were confirmed when Susan Bones and Hannah Abbott entered and sat a little further down their house table, passing by Harry and shooting him conspiratorial smiles.  
  
With all the Hufflepuffs accounted for Harry turned his gaze to the Ravenclaw table, Terry Boot, Michael Corner and Anthony Goldstein came in while slinging jokes at each other and nodding to Harry by way of greeting. They sat halfway down their table and tucked right into their breakfast without hesitation. Just as they had seated themselves Luna wandered in alone. She waved at Harry a little and sat by herself at the end of the table, opening the Quibbler and turning it upside down so she could continue to read where she had left off from. Pavarti and Cho entered together as well, Harry wasn’t sure when that friendship had sparked up but he couldn’t say he was really surprised, the DA had forged quite a few bonds that he never would have expected, especially between house members from different years. Harry was pretty sure that everyone was accounted for then. No one had been caught by Umbridge and they were all safe and sound, and it was all thanks to Draco. He breathed a sigh of relief and grinned widely when Ron and Hermione sat opposite him, they didn't look surprised to see him so they must have figured out his little plan while they made their way down from the Tower.  
  
“Everyone got out.” He leaned over the table and whispered to his friends. Hermione smiled in relief, slumping slightly as the tension drained from her shoulders and Ron nodded and grinned. Harry finally began to eat, he swept the leftovers of the orange onto an empty plate and joined Ron and Hermione in filling up his plate and in the now relaxed atmosphere they chatted lightly between themselves, about classes, homework and all the things that Harry had blocked out since he and Draco had taken their little break. Even with the distraction Harry still noticed Draco enter the Hall and sit at his house table with Blaise and Pansy. Harry smiled at him but made no move to go over just yet. Hermione glanced around at the house tables as she buttered a slice of toast  
  
"There's someone missing." She pointed out after doing a quick headcount.  
  
"Marietta?" Harry asked knowingly, "She's the one that tipped off Umbridge. Draco heard them talking outside Umbridge's office, that's why he knew to warn us."  
  
"Oh dear." Hermione said, her hand pausing mid butter and the knife falling out of her slack grip to thunk down onto the table top.  
  
"What?" Ron asked.  
  
"Well it's just that-" Hermione stopped talking as the Hall doors opened once more and someone rushed in and perched at the end of the Ravenclaw table without drawing attention to themselves. It was Marietta, and she was leaning so far over her plate that her dark hair was shielding her face from view like a curtain. As she reached for something on the table in front of her, her hair fell back very slightly, giving the few Ravenclaws around her a good view of what she was so obviously trying to hide.  
  
"I put a hex on the parchment that everyone signed, didn't I?" Ron and Harry were quick to nod, "Look." She nodded at Marietta who was forced to push her hair back so she could eat something. The word 'SNEAK' was spelled out across her face in bright red pimples. Harry should know by now not to underestimate Hermione, she had the entire knowledge of the Hogwarts Library behind her after all, and yet he couldn't stop himself from gaping at the Witch in front of him with his mouth hanging open.  
  
"Hermione," Ron looked at her, just as gobsmacked as Harry, "You're bloody brilliant." She blushed, but looked on proudly at her work.   
  
"Remind me not to piss you off." Harry offered once he had snapped out of his gaping.  
  
"She deserved it. We all could have gotten in so much trouble."  
  
"It's a good job we took that list of names off the wall isn't it? Can you imagine if Umbridge had got hold of it? We'd all be fucked." Ron said, quickly remembering the serious conversation that Draco had with Hermione about leaving a list of confidential names where anybody could read it.  
  
"Draco's idea." Harry shrugged.  
  
He looked up at the staff table at that point. Dumbledore was sitting in the middle, tucking into a boiled egg with gusto, the long sleeves of his lurid coloured robes tucked up under his elbows. Sat to the left of him was Umbridge, she looked sour and her face was pinched in anger, she was obviously extremely pissed off that Harry’s group had slipped through her fingers once again. Harry couldn't help but smirk, (a little habit he’d picked up from Draco) while she glared down at the students with an eagle eye. Harry wondered just what might have happened if they had been caught, their group was called Dumbledore’s Army, so surely the Ministry wouldn’t have taken that lightly. Harry shuddered at the thought of Dumbledore being forced out of Hogwarts and Umbridge taking his place. He couldn’t even imagine how bad that would have been for everyone. Umbridge turned to look at him then, catching his eye and narrowing her gaze until she was glaring at him from under the slits of half-closed eyelids. Harry met her eyes for a split second before turning back to Ron and Hermione, and tuning back into their conversation  
  
“That’ll have to be it then, won’t it?” Ron was asking.  
  
“I don’t think we’ll be able to use the room again while Umbridge is here.” Hermione said.  
  
“And I don’t think that there’s anywhere else we could possibly go,” Harry added, “The only other private place in the entire school is the Chamber and I don’t think that’s the best idea.” Ron’s look of distaste was more than enough of an answer for him.  
  
“So that’s the end?”   
  
“Looks like.” Harry looked at his two best friends who both looked as disappointed as he did about the situation.  
  
“No, I don’t think so,” Hermione looked at the two of them, she looked resolute, the same look she had on her face when she pulled the time turner over his head in third year, or when she had swallowed the potion in first year to walk through the flames. Harry knew there was no arguing with her once she got that look on her face. Once Hermione put her mind to something, Harry knew that there was no way to sway her otherwise, “We’ll come up with something, let’s just take a few days to think about it.”  
  
“I’ll ask Draco too.”  
  
“You two are talking now?” Ron asked. With all the stress over the DA being almost found out Harry had completely forgotten to tell his friends about his and Draco’s conversation in the alcove the night before.  
  
“We got back together.” Harry’s grin was ear splitting, it was the first time he had said it out loud and it was almost like a weight off his chest, “We were stuck in an alcove last night, hiding from her and we talked, I apologised. I know that I really fucked up, you guys told me that more than enough yesterday.”  
  
“Nice one mate.” Ron reached over the table to slap him on the shoulder, while Hermione just raised her eyebrows and pursed her lips, Harry knew that she was holding back from saying ‘I told you so’ and he was thankful that she had curbed her instincts on his behalf.  
  
“I’m surprised he forgave you so easily.” Hermione said finally.  
  
“Oh, he didn’t. Not a chance. I’ve got at least a week's worth of grovelling to do.” He shrugged, “Worth it.” Harry noticed that Draco was placing down his knife and fork, and finishing off his cup of tea, “I’ve got to go. See you both in Charms?”  
  
“Don’t be late Harry.” Hermione warned as he climbed off the bench.  
  
He nodded in response and made his way around the Hall to the Slytherin table. That’s when the whispers started, people were staring to notice Harry Potter walking directly towards the Slytherin table, he didn't know what everyone thought was about to happen, maybe that he would hex Draco? Although, why he'd do that in full view of all the Professors he had no idea. Harry walked down the length of the table until he was level with Draco, the previous whispers which had been steadily picking up the pace as he walked, suddenly stopped as though the whole school was watching them with baited breath. Harry felt the weight of a hundred eyes on him but Draco was yet to turn around, on purpose, Harry realised, to leave him sweating.  
  
"Walk you to class?" Harry finally spoke, just when he couldn't take the staring any longer.  
  
“Pansy, Blaise,” Draco finally said, “I’ll meet you in History of Magic. Someone has some grovelling to do.” Pansy looked up at Harry with a grin as wide and as menacing as a shark and Blaise considered him with an indifference that was just a little cooler than usual. Draco stood up, coming face to face with Harry finally. Harry noticed that his bag was still resting on the bench and that Draco was making no move to pick it up. Draco looked down at it, then back up at Harry, and raised an eyebrow in challenge.  
  
"I'll get that." Harry half offered, snagging the bag by the strap and swinging it up onto his shoulder.  
  
"You do that." Draco smirked.   
  
"See you later Draco." Pansy cackled as the two boys turned to leave the Hall.   
  
Harry just rolled his eyes and followed Draco into the Entrance Hall. It hadn't gone unnoticed by Harry that the Slytherin’s bag was twice as heavy as it needed to be.  
  
"What's even in here?" He complained.  
  
"Just my books, of course." Harry peeked in at the titles.  
  
"Arithmancy? Potions? Both of those are after lunch. Why are you carrying them around all day?"  
  
"Oh I'm not going to be carrying around anything today." Draco smirked at him and Harry groaned, but tugged the bag more securely onto his shoulder. He reached down to catch Draco's hand in his own and was met with a soft smile. He supposed he really didn't mind carrying his bag too much, as long as Draco was smiling at him like that.   
  
By the time they had made it to the History of Magic classroom half the class were already standing in the corridor waiting for the door to open for them. They had left the Great Hall early enough but Harry supposed that dragging Draco behind a statue for a quick kiss would have left them slightly behind schedule. He stood face to face with Draco in front of the collection of Slytherins and Hufflepuffs and, ignoring the new batch of rumours that he was sure were circling, he leaned in and kissed Draco on the lips. Just once. But it was more than enough to send the message.   
  
Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter were officially back together.  
  
He passed over Draco’s abnormally heavy bag before turning on his heel and walking away. He waited until he had turned the corner before he started to sprint through the corridors and up two floors in order to reach Charms before the class started. He threw himself into his seat next to Ron just as the bell went and Flitwick climbed up on his stack of books. Hermione humphed at his almost tardiness but she didn’t try to lecture him on it. Harry knew that it was probably because Flitwick had started speaking, but he didn’t dare push his luck. Ron just grinned at him and rested his head in his palm so he could stare out of the window lazily, only half paying attention to the lecture.   
  
Harry only took a few notes during the class. He cursed himself for leaving the journal and the two pendants in his dorm and he made a mental note to run up to the dorm during lunch to grab them. Draco was in History of Magic too, which was prime note-passing time. At the end of the lesson all Harry had written was the name of the spell, it’s incantation and it’s wand movements. Which, if he was honest, was all he really needed to know. Who really needed to know the theory behind it anyway?  
  
“We have homework too.” Hermione said, spinning around on her seat and pointing to the few lines that Harry had written. Oh yeah, that’s what he needed the theory for. Harry gave her a quick, grateful smile and jotted down the essay requirements before stuffing everything into his bag.  
  
“See you both in Transfiguration.” Harry said, as he tried to rush out of the room.  
  
“Wait, where are you going?” Hermione called after him.  
  
“Draco!” He yelled back, already halfway out of the door. He ran down the corridor and down the two flights of staircases, making it to the History of Magic classroom in record time where Draco was leaning against the wall, with his bag sat at his feet. Harry’s breath caught and his mouth practically watered at the sight. Draco's long legs were crossed at the ankle, his hands were stuffed in the pockets of his school trousers, and his robe hung down his back in a straight line of black and green. Harry really couldn’t explain why such a normal pose made him look so phenomenal.  
  
“There you are, I was beginning to think I had to walk myself down to Transfiguration.” Harry just snagged his bag again, hoisting it up over his shoulder before taking Draco’s hand in his own.  
  
“How was the gossiping?”  
  
“Almost unbearable.” Draco admitted with a scowl.  
  
“Almost?” Harry questioned as they hurried down the halls, luckily they only needed to go down one floor to get to the Transfiguration classroom.  
  
“I made myself feel better by telling myself that I was the only one in the room who really knew how good you were in bed.” Harry snorted in laughter and pulled Draco closer.  
  
“And?” Harry asked with a tug on Draco’s hand, “How good am I in bed?” Draco looked at him with his trademark raised eyebrow and better-than-thou look.  
  
“I’m not going to stroke your ego when you’re still making reparations. How about _you_ tell me how good _I_ am in bed.”  
  
Harry leaned close, and their quick pace slowed and faltered slightly as Harry’s lips brushed against his temple. He dipped his head slightly until his mouth was brushing the shell of Draco’s ear, and he whispered, “Fucking phenomenal.” Draco allowed himself a moment to blush and level his breathing before pushing Harry away.  
  
“I would think so.” Harry just tipped his head back and laughed in response, then proceeded to catch Draco’s wrist and tug him down the stairs so they wouldn’t be late.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I adore all of you :) thank you all so much for reading!


	40. Chapter 40

A couple of days later Harry caught Draco heading down to Dinner from his last lesson of the day. He tugged him away from Blaise and Pansy with a sobering expression, it seemed serious enough for Draco to hold his tongue about being manhandled. He waited until Harry had pulled him into an empty room and after inspecting the half broken furniture, he propped himself up against what was probably a teacher's desk (it seemed to be the least likely object to crumble at the smallest touch). He winced as his black robes came into contact with years of dust and finally looked over at Harry and raised an eyebrow.  
  
“Harry?” Draco asked finally, when the Gryffindor made no sound at his enquiring gaze. His Boyfriend looked skittish, so Draco curled his fingers around Harry’s wrist and gently tugged him to lean against the desk next to him.   
  
“The Ministry won’t let Dumbledore expel Warrington.” Harry said. Draco’s response was nothing more than the tightening of his grip on Harry’s wrist, “They say that there’s no evidence that it was anymore than a schoolboy squabble.”  
  
“Right.” Draco hung his head and stared at the floor, he was pretty sure that there would be no escaping Warrington next time, and Harry couldn’t be glued to his side 24/7. He might be a meat-headed Slytherin, but he wasn’t a complete idiot. Next time he would wait until Harry was completely preoccupied, and with Harry’s busy schedule he would have no trouble catching Draco alone.   
  
“But, there’s good news,” Harry continued, “Dumbledore’s called in a few favours and Warrington’s being transferred to Durmstrang.”  
  
“Oh.” Draco sighed in relief and relaxed even further into Harry’s touch. A weight released that he didn’t even know he had been shouldering. He had honestly half expected Warrington to be fully pardoned, but at least Harry had one thing right about Dumbledore, maybe he really did care about his students.  
  
“That’s good, right?” Harry asked quietly.  
  
“Yeah. Yes, of course. I imagine his parents were all too happy with that as well, I expect a lot of Death Eaters will want to pull their children from Hogwarts if Dumbledore continues to be Headmaster.” Harry took Draco’s hand away from his wrist and threaded their fingers together.  
  
“Let’s hope that he does. He’s the best defence that this school has against Voldemort.” Draco clenched his jaw and suppressed the shiver that had become second nature to him, and everyone else who grew up in the Wizarding world.  
  
“Come on, I’ll walk you down to Dinner.” He tugged Draco out of the dusty classroom and back into the stream of students, the corridors were significantly less busy than they were a couple of minutes ago but there were still a good few students heading down to the Great Hall from their last lesson of the day. Draco passed his bag over to Harry with a smirk and a raised eyebrow, the Gryffindor rolled his eyes in response but took the bag without question. He was well aware that Draco still fully expected him to dote on him for at least three more days.  
  
They walked down to the Great Hall, first in silence and then, once the subject was brought up, they chatted easily about the up and coming Slytherin-Hufflepuff match and the new maneuvers that Draco had been testing.  
  
“I’ve figured out the sloth roll, that one’s all about the grip. But I still haven’t figured out the Wronski. How do you do it?” Harry shrugged.  
  
“Mostly? I just tend not to care too much about whether or not I hit the ground.”  
  
“Harry! You’re willing to sacrifice yourself for a game of Quidditch?” Harry just shrugged again, it wasn’t really something he’d ever thought about.  
  
“I’m usually fairly certain that I can pull out of it, if that makes you feel any better?”  
  
“Self-preservation is totally lost on you isn’t it, Potter?” Draco asked as he led them both to the Slytherin table and sat down opposite Pansy. Harry followed suit, sitting on the bench next to Draco without a care in the world that he was sat amongst Slytherins, most of whom wanted to kill or maim him in one way or another. He gave Hermione and Ron a quick wave but made no move to join them at the Gryffindor table.  
  
“Quite.” Harry responded.  
  
“What are we talking about?” Pansy asked, nosing her way into their conversation.  
  
“Potter has just given away his biggest secret to winning a Quidditch match.” Draco announced loudly. Harry laughed as half the Slytherin Quidditch team who were sitting close enough, perked up and tuned in to their conversation. Followed quickly by members of the Ravenclaw team who were sitting at the table next to them.  
  
“It’s simple really,” Draco commented, stringing the listeners on as though it was some great life changing secret, a spell perhaps, or a potion, their audience were on tenterhooks, “He just doesn’t care whether he lives or dies.”  
  
“How very-” Pansy sniffed and wrinkled her nose in displeasure, “Gryffindor, of you.”  
  
“It’s worked so far,” Harry shrugged and grinned as he reached for the closest serving spoon in a bowl of mashed potato, “Besides, I’m almost always certain that I probably won’t die.” Pansy looked horrified.  
  
“This is who you’ve shackled yourself to, Draco. I hope you’re aware of that?” Pansy said, as she flipped her hair over her shoulder.  
  
“Are all Slytherins as dramatic as you two?” Harry laughed at their affronted expressions.   
  
Draco had a perfectly acceptable response on the tip on his tongue when a shadow hovered over them. His entire body tensed and he slowly placed his cutlery down on the sides of his plate. Harry was copying his motions next to him, his hand disappearing inside his robes and gripping the handle of his wand, ready to pull it out if something were to happen. Draco glanced at the teachers table. Umbridge was sat there, in her lurid pink robes as usual, but Dumbledore wasn’t, and if this were to come to blows Draco was almost certain that Umbridge wouldn’t see it in their favour. He stood, and turned on the spot with his legs still trapped behind the bench, he came face to face with the two older Slytherins.  
  
“Montague, Pucey.” Draco greeted with a sneer.  
  
“I heard you’re the one who lost us a Chaser, Malfoy.” Montague who was the current Captain of the Slytherin team looked pissed. Draco hadn’t actually considered it, he was too busy scared to death of Warrington appearing one day and torturing him in the depths of the Hogwarts dungeons where no one would hear him screaming. It would have been a far fetched scenario, if the Slytherin Chaser hadn’t been so close to doing just that only a few days ago.  
  
“He deserved it.” Draco replied, tilting his chin up in defiance.  
  
“You’ll deserve this.” Montague pulled his wand out, but he was too slow for Harry. The Gryffindor was still sitting, but it didn’t stop him from spinning around and pressing the tip of his wand into the meat of Montague's thigh. Draco was pleased to see that he had angled himself in such a way that Umbridge wouldn’t be able to see him with his wand out.  
  
“I wouldn’t, if I were you.” Draco crossed his arms and smirked, “How do you expect to win against Ravenclaw without a Chaser and a Seeker? It’s too late to replace both of us.” Draco wasn’t above holding the one thing that Montague cared about over his head. After their first altercation in January, and apart from some jibes and thinly veiled threats, Montague had left him mostly alone. Even during Quidditch practices Draco had been mostly left to his own devices, he hadn’t needed to practice drills with everyone else as his role was so far removed from the rest of the game. So he simply went to practices, caught the snitch a few times, and was ignored by the three Chasers. But Warrington had never been one to think too much about his actions so Draco wasn’t surprised that he had jumped at the chance to attack when he saw him wandering the dungeon corridors alone.  
  
Montague looked between Draco, Harry, and the wand that was slowly inching towards his bollocks. He stuffed his wand away with a furious glare.   
  
“You might want to ask Zabini if he would be willing to step in as Chaser,” Draco mentioned casually, “He’s a fair flyer.” Montague didn’t answer, he simply sneered at the blonde and turned on his heel and strode out of the Hall, with Pucey close on his heels.  
  
They finished up dinner with no other distractions. Draco was fairly impressed that Harry was not only being cordial to his friends but that they all actually seemed to be getting on. He was quick to compliment Blaise's performance on the Cheering Charm in their last Charms class, Harry had commented that his attempt had left Hermione cackling in laughter rather than the internal elation that was supposed to happen.   
  
"You're putting too much magic into it, pull back a bit next time. It's meant to be performed with finesse not force." Blaise had informed him.  
  
"I guess that's why I'm so good at Defence, most of that is brawn over finesse I think." Harry laughed at himself before turning to Pansy.  
  
"Hermione was commenting on your nail colour earlier, she was wondering if it was a polish or a charm?"  
  
That's when Draco realised just how much a charmer Harry Potter really was. He'd managed to get onto the good side of two Slytherins by doing nothing more than appealing to their pride. Blaise for his pride in his charm work and Pansy's pride in her appearance. That sneaky little fucker.  
  
"Hermione's gesturing me over. I better go see what she wants." Harry said once he had finished and placed his knife and fork down, "Wait for me?" Draco nodded and watched as Harry walked around the Slytherin table and towards the Gryffindors.  
  
"I thought you'd never finish." Hermione said to Harry as he sat next to her, "Here, read this and sign at the bottom." She pushed a parchment over to him.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"Skeeters article. I said we needed to approve it remember. I've read through it and I think it's fine. She was actually very tasteful about your relationship, believe it or not." Harry snorted and flipped to the bottom, signing off on it quickly.  
  
"I trust you." He said with a smile, "Anything else? Draco's waiting for me." Hermione rolled her eyes but shook her head and rolled up the parchment ready to be sent on to Mr Lovegood to be published in the next edition of the Quibbler.  
  
"No, just that. Don't forget to do some studying at some point. OWLs will be here before you know it!"   
  
"Yes Mum!" Harry saluted her and barely managed to dodge the punch aimed at his arm as he jumped up and headed back towards Draco and the Slytherins.  
  
X  
  
Draco lay next to Harry a couple of hours later. Heaving deep lungfuls of oxygen and willing away his almost painful erection. He was trying as hard as he could to stand by his morals and not let Harry get into his pants until he felt like the Gryffindor had suitably re-paid his stupidity. That didn’t mean that he wasn’t up for a good snogging session though. Harry was breathing deeply next to him, lying where Draco had pushed him down and not bothering to move his legs from where they were tangled with Draco’s.  
  
“Here.” Harry said lazily. He was scrabbling in the drawer of his bedside cabinet blindly, since he hadn’t bothered to actually sit up to find what he wanted. Draco lifted his hand up to accept the pendant that Harry dropped into the palm of his hand. Draco smiled as Harry’s magic warmed the metal from the inside out. He had missed the heavy but comforting weight of the silver against his chest and he wasted no time in tugging it back over his head and letting it rest against his clavicle. He put a hand over it, pressing it into his skin with his eyes closed and a smile on his face, “I had a bit of an accident with the mirror, so I might need a couple of days to get that back up and running, and I’ll need yours so I can link them back together once I’ve fixed it.” Harry looked down at the small smile on Draco’s lips, and the way his hand covered the silver pendant possessively.  
  
“I missed it too.” Harry said, commenting on what Draco had left unsaid between them.  
  
“Hmm.” Draco replied, his eyes still closed. Harry finally moved. He rolled over until he was pinning Draco’s arm to the bed, he nosed the flush on Draco’s cheek as he tucked himself against the blondes' side.  
  
“I missed you.”  
  
“Your fault.” Draco replied.  
  
“I know. But you can’t blame me really. I mean, crikey, Soulmates. How impossible does that sound?” Draco shrugged with the one shoulder that wasn’t currently being pinned to the bed.  
  
“It makes sense now that I think about it, and I’m frankly disappointed in myself that I didn’t think about it before.” Draco said.  
  
“What does it mean for us?” Harry asked. Draco opened his eyes and turned his head very slightly to look straight into Harry’s wonderful green eyes, he was glad that Harry hadn’t bothered to grab his glasses, he always preferred to see his eyes without them being covered by those ridiculous lenses.  
  
“I don’t know. What do you want it to mean?” Draco skirted the question. He was reminded of their very first kiss, and how he had said something similar to prevent himself from being shot down and humiliated. Things were so different between them now but bad habits were hard to break.  
  
“Forever?” Harry asked lightly. As though he wasn’t asking Draco to promise himself to him for the rest of his life.  
  
“I-” Draco cut himself off, he really didn’t know what to think, or what to say. Harry was asking him for everything. But then … hadn’t he already given up everything for him? Hadn’t he turned away from his family after no more than a few kisses? Was asking for forever really more than Draco expected? He felt that he should be concerned that he wasn’t yet sixteen and he was seriously considering to spend forever with this one person. But wasn’t this just the way in the Wizarding world? People got married to their Hogwarts sweethearts all the time.  
  
“It’s okay, you don’t need to answer. Just … food for thought, yeah?” Draco nodded. Harry kissed him on the cheek before closing his eyes and resting his head against Draco’s shoulder in silence. Leaving Draco to stare wide-eyed at the canopy above.


	41. Chapter 41

_ One single pale white finger trailed down the half destroyed fireplace in front of him. The claw like fingernail left a single trail in the dust and debris on top of the white marble. Chunks of stone littered the floor and plaster dust covered everything that hadn’t been destroyed in the explosion. He was furious. He had been furious for days now. His lip curled at the giant hole in the wall, where glass and stone had sprayed outwards across the balcony beyond. She had escaped from him. He had been so close to obtaining her. So close to making an example out of her. His hand clenched on his wand, the yew gave way to his grip, bending slightly in response to his demanding hand.   
  
_ _ This would not be the end. He would find her. Her and her bastard Son, who dared to defy him. Harry aimed his wand at the remaining wall, the only thing that still stood between the outside elements and the rest of the room. He sneered and snarled to himself and with a fierce movement the wall was destroyed.  
  
_ _ “It was House-elf magic my Lord.” Came the simpering voice from behind him. Harry turned around.  
  
_ _ “Bring Lucius to me Wormtail.” Harry’s voice came out differently than usual, he was speaking slowly, with a snake like hiss added to each syllable.  
  
_ _ “My Lord.” The Sire of the Malfoy family knelt at his feet, appearing from behind Wormtail in a second. He didn’t dare glance around his Son's former room. He didn’t want to show remorse of any kind in front of this powerful and dangerous Wizard. He was not fooled by this act.  
  
_ _ “Lucius. Your family have been troublesome these past few months.” Harry sneered at him. _ _ “My apologies, My Lord. They are my family no longer.” Said the bowing man, lowering his eyes to the carpeted floor that was coloured grey from the plaster dust from the fallen ceiling.  
  
_ _ “I put this into your hands Lucius,” He looked around at the room, “Bring your Wife and Son to me.”   
  
_ _ “Yes My Lord.” Lucius bowed even lower, the tips of his long blonde hair brushed the floor.  
  
_ _ “You know what awaits you if you fail.”  
  
_ _ “Yes, My Lord.”  
  
_ _ “Leave us now.” Lucius stood up, still averting his eyes from his Lord. Harry would allow it for now, but he was ever curious to see what the Malfoy Lord was trying to hide from him. He would find out soon enough, now wasn’t the time to chase away the only way to bring back his rogue followers.  
  
_ _ “Watch him Wormtail, I want his every movement reported.”  
  
_ _ “Yes Lord.” Wormtail bowed low, his silver hand caught the glint of the moonlight as he backed out of the room, barely rising from his bow as he left. Harry sneered at him in distaste. Soon he would not need to keep himself stowed away. Soon he would walk down the streets of Wizarding London with his Death Eaters following faithfully behind him. He just needed it first.  
  
_ Harry woke up with a strangled gasp, and sat bolt upright in bed. He was quick to close his eyes against the sharp throbbing pain above his eye, right where his scar was. He groaned deeply and rubbed the heels of his palms against his eyes. Yet another dream through Voldemort's eyes.  
  
“Harry?” Came the sleepy murmur from the bed next to him, “Wha’s up?”  
  
“Dream.” Harry muttered. Draco blinked sleep away and rose up on his elbows to properly look at Harry.  
  
“Him?” Harry nodded, “What was it about?”  
  
“Your Dad.” Draco frowned, but wrapped his hand around Harry’s bicep to tug him back down onto the mattress. He settled them both onto their sides, facing each other, and he snaked an arm around Harry’s waist to keep him pinned there.  
  
“Tell me what happened.”   
  
Harry started speaking, slowly at first, and then the words couldn’t come out fast enough. He lay with his forehead pressed to Draco’s, with his fingers twisted in Draco’s pyjamas as he told him everything he had seen in his dream. Draco’s destroyed bedroom, Voldemort's anger at Mrs Malfoy escaping the Manor, his Father groveling at Voldemort's feet.  
  
“He’s sending your Father to find you both.” Was the sentence he ended with. Draco didn’t speak, he just stroked his hand through Harry’s hair and massaged his scalp with the tips of his fingers. He wasn’t quite sure what to say to all of that, he had expected Voldemort to use his Father against them, or use them against his Father. It wasn’t a surprise to him, but knowing and presuming were two very different things. He wasn’t quite sure what to do with the information, now that he was faced with the very real possibility of coming face to face with his own Father.  
  
“Occlumency isn’t working, is it?” He decided to say.  
  
“Doesn’t seem to be, I just don’t get how I can use it while I’m asleep.” He sounded pained, and Draco wished he could take all of his burdens off his shoulders.  
  
“You’re just not at that point yet. It takes years to master.”  
  
“The lessons with Snape really aren’t helping either. I always feel even worse after them.” Draco gently tilted Harry’s head down, and with gentle but precise movements he pressed a kiss to Harry’s scar.   
  
x   
  
Despite believing that the sessions with Snape were hindering his progress rather than helping, Harry continued to attend. February faded into March, and the weeks ticked rapidly over into April, the pretence of remedial potions held up throughout the weeks, even his grades were steadily starting to improve, though that was more due to Draco being his Potions partner.  
  
He usually stumbled out of the sessions with an aching head and an itchy scar, frustrated and angry that Snape didn’t see fit to teach him anything beyond ‘prepare your mind’. Draco had helped him immensely, certainly more than Snape had in any case. It was only through his practices with Draco that he was actually able to lock down his mind, but he still couldn’t do it fast enough and Snape was able to rip through his deepest memories and parade them through his mind's eye before being shut out completely. Half the time the joke was on him though. Most of his memories these days featured a fairly naked blonde Slytherin and Snape always drew back from his mind fairly quickly after Harry bombarded him with those images. It was also why Snape had forbidden Draco from attending any of their future meetings after the first one, not that it had helped, Harry’s thoughts lingered on Draco just as much with him out of the room as they did when he was in the room.  
  
That day their usual routine, of Snape constantly casting Legilimens on him until he was sweating and gasping for breath, was interrupted. The door to the classroom was thrown open and Draco had come running into the room with his Nimbus 2001 in one hand, still dressed in his green Quidditch robes. Apparently Crabbe and Goyle had both swung for the Bludger at the same time and had ended up slamming their beaters bats into each other's faces, both of them were in the Hospital Wing and as their Head of House Snape was required to visit them and inform their parents. He had left the room in a hurry with Draco, his black robes fanning out behind him in his usual bat-like impression. Harry was dismissed and his Boyfriend shot him a quick grin behind his back before following the Slytherin Head of House out of the room. That’s when Harry saw the blue glow in the corner of the room. Dumbledore’s Pensieve.   
  
X  
  
A little while later he was stumbling through the dungeon corridors, half tripping over his own feet as his mind was too occupied on Snape’s memory to even bother focusing on walking in a straight line. Snape had dragged him from the Pensieve and had physically thrown Harry from his office with every ounce of anger and hatred that Harry thought a person could muster. He reached a fork in the corridor and made a split second decision, he turned to the left rather than the right, heading further into the labyrinth under the castle. He pulled out his invisibility cloak as he approached the blank expanse of stone that served as the entrance to the Slytherin common room. He knew Draco was spending the evening in his common room after Quidditch practice and he didn’t think he could deal with going all the way back up to the tower without talking to him about what he had just seen.  
  
The hissed request to the wall was enough for it to open for him, and a few of the Slytherins glanced at the wall which opened seemingly by itself, but no one was bothered enough to raise the alarm. Harry only had to glance around the room for a couple of seconds before he located Draco. His white blonde hair stood out in the low dim of the dark common room. “Draco.” Harry bent low over the back of the sofa and whispered directly into Draco’s ear. The blonde jumped dramatically and the large Potions book fell from his lap to the floor with a loud thud. A few students sat at the nearby table turned to glare at him as their studies were interrupted, they turned away quickly once they realised who it was.  
  
“Fuck,” Draco hissed, picking up his book and placing it on the coffee table in front of him, “Harry?” He could feel the cloak brushing against the back of his neck.  
  
“Can we talk?” Harry said into his ear. Draco just nodded and stood up. He left the book on the table, and led the still invisible Harry up to his dormitory. They climbed into his bed silently, side-stepping the few boys who were in the dorm already, and pulled the curtains closed around them.  
  
“What’s up? I thought you were spending tonight up in the tower?” Draco asked once Harry had pulled the invisibility cloak off his head, meeting Draco’s gaze with his own distraught expression, “What happened? Did Snape do something?” He was instantly on alert.  
  
“My Dad was a bully.” Harry said.  
  
“What?” Draco pulled Harry back against the headboard next to him.  
  
“After you came for Snape, I saw that he had a Pensieve…”  
  
“Oh, Harry, you didn’t.” Draco replied, catching on quickly. Harry just nodded. “So your Dad?”  
  
“He was a bully. He was a cocky bastard, and a proper arsehole. Especially to Snape. I never understood before, why Snape hated me so much, but it makes sense now.”  
  
“What did you see?” Draco asked.  
  
So Harry told him all about following James Potter and the Marauders out of their OWL exam, how his Dad was showing off with a Snitch, the nickname they had given Snape  _ ‘Snivellus _ ’. How they’d attacked Snape for no reason, jinxing him again and again until he was thoroughly humiliated. And then his Mum, his lovely Mum, intervening and defending Snape even after he called her a Mudblood.  
  
Draco was speechless.  
  
“He really was an arsehole,” Harry said sadly, “All this time I’ve been defending him against Snape, when he was right. My Dad was cocky and privileged. I really didn’t know anything about him at all, everyone else was telling me how great he was, that he was a good man, but he really wasn’t.”  
  
“Harry, people change.” Draco’s tone was placating, “Look at us.”  
  
“We were never that bad.” Harry defended, “When we fought we were on a level playing field and neither one of us was being humiliated. We were mean to each other but with us it went both ways, we gave as good as we got. My Dad and Sirius were just cruel.”  
  
“All I’m trying to say is, don’t let that one memory taint everything you’ve ever thought about your Dad. Look at the difference between us last year to how we are this year. We grew up. I’m sure your Dad did too.” Harry just responded with a non-committed hmm and a shrug, Draco nudged his shoulder with his own.  
  
“Use your mirror to talk to Sirius first, okay? Before you start to think the worst about your Dad, see what he has to say.”  
  
“Yeah. Yeah. I guess I should.”  The silence between them stretched, it wasn’t uncomfortable but it was heavy with the weight of Harry’s new discovery. His thoughts swirled as he tried to contort his view of his Dad around this new discovery.  
  
“It must have been nice to see your parents though,” Draco tried to make light of the situation, “How was that?”  
  
“It was great, at first. Everyone’s right you know, I really do look like my Dad, and my eyes are exactly the same as my Mums. It was odd, but it was good. My Mum was really pretty.” Harry smiled at him and Draco just smiled back. He knew that Harry’s Patronus ‘memory’ was meeting his parents, even that small glimpse was more than he’d ever had before. Draco just wished the circumstances had been different.


	42. Chapter 42

Harry was sitting on the edge of his bed, he was spinning the old mirror between his hands in silent contemplation. It had been two days since he had seen the memory in Snape's Pensieve and Draco had sent him up to his dorm while he was at Quidditch practice, with specific instructions to ‘ _talk to Sirius!’  
_  
He hated to admit it but he had been wandering around a bit like a zombie the past couple of days. He just couldn’t help but be reminded all day every day about what his Dad had done to Snape. He found his mind wandering on an almost hourly basis towards what type of man his Dad actually was. He had heard nothing but praise for James Potter since he stepped foot into the wizarding world, so this new revelation that his Dad really had been a cocky arsehole like Snape had claimed for the past five years, was scrambling his mind just a little bit. He supposed Draco had a point when he said that people changed, no one stayed their fifteen year old selves forever. He had wanted to put it off even more. But Draco was right, as per usual, this zombie impersonation was interfering in his OWL revisions and he really couldn’t afford to fail anything.  
  
“Sirius Black.” Harry took a deep breath and steeled himself as he waited for Sirius to pick up the mirror.  
  
“Harry!” Came the delighted exclamation from Sirius as his gleeful face filled the mirror.  
  
“Hey, Sirius.” After seeing his happy expression Harry suddenly wasn’t so sure that he wanted to bring his spirits down by talking about his dead best friend. He knew how hard Sirius was finding being stuck inside the dusky house of his ancestors and he didn’t want to drag his down even further.  
  
“What can I do for you, Harry?” Sirius asked.  
  
“Harry’s there?” Came another voice from Sirius’s side of the connection.  
  
“Yeah,” Sirius said, turning to the side and answering the question from the disembodied voice, “Moony’s here too.” Sirius said to Harry. Oh great, he was going to ruin the day for both of his Dads best friends.  
  
“I just … I needed to ask you something. It’s kind of important.” Harry stalled, he realised that this probably wasn’t the best decision when Sirius looked at him more worried than ever before. Way to go Harry.  
  
“What’s up kid?” Sirius’s eyebrows drew down and his forehead creased as he frowned. Not that Harry would ever point out that he had wrinkles.  
  
“It’s about my Dad.” Harry said. Sirius’s face fell, the grin faded into a haunted frown and his eyes started to dart around the room as though he was looking for an escape route. Harry didn’t want to make him talk about this but he needed to know the truth, he needed to understand what he had seen.  
  
“Oh. Do you want Remus to go?” He asked. His expression was obvious, ‘please don’t make me do this by myself.’  
  
“No, it’s okay. He might be able to help.” Help calm you down, Harry wanted to say, “Well you know how I’ve been doing Occlumency with Snape-”  
  
“Great bat.” Sirius sneered, and Harry was once again brought back to that memory and his Godfather's cruel words, ‘ _Snivellus_ ’…‘ _what are you going to do, wipe your nose on us?_ ’ Harry winced as the words replayed through his mind for the thousandth time.  
  
“Well, I saw a memory. I saw you guys and my Dad.”  
  
“Oh dear.” Came Remus’s voice, out of frame but still hanging around in the background. Sirius’s face paled and his jaw clenched. This was not a conversation he had been looking forward to.  
  
“What did you see, Harry?” Sirius’s tone was low, already apologetic even though Harry hadn’t really said very much.  
  
“It was after your Defence OWL, I saw what you did to Snape.” Sirius was silent, he was blinking slowly, waiting for the question that he was sure was about to come, “Was my Dad a bully?”  
  
“We were young,” Sirius began, “That’s the first thing that you have to remember. We were young and we were stupid.”  
  
“You were mean. You were... arseholes!”   
  
“Yes,” Sirius agreed with a small nod, even going as far as to look ashamed of himself, “We were mean, we were childish. We did things that I’m not entirely proud of.”  
  
“So why does everyone keep telling me how great and amazing my Dad was when he was nothing more than a cocky bully?” When he was nothing more than a magical Dudley Dursley, Harry wanted to say. And that was the crux of it really, wasn’t it? Harry couldn’t stand people being treated that way because he too was once treated that way. He too, was once someone’s punching bag, someone’s victim. He was someone’s Severus Snape. Maybe twenty years from now he’d be standing in front of Dudley's kids telling them how cocky and arrogant their Father had been.  
  
“We grew up Harry, and we grew up really quickly. The war was starting to really kick off, we had a new Minister who leaned towards darker alliances, the Wizarding world was changing and we had to grow up to adapt. By the time we got to seventh year Voldemort was wreaking havoc and he was more powerful than he ever had been before. I’m not telling you this to get any kind of sympathy or to excuse our actions. I just want you to understand what happened to us. Your Mum, Lily, would never have accepted James had he not changed.”  
  
“Why were you all like that in the first place?”  
  
“James had grown up with the same prejudices as every Pureblood on the light side, he had been told that Slytherins were evil, and he was jealous that Snape was so close to Lily, they used to be best friends. And I was so busy rebelling against my family, trying to make a name for myself away from the Black family that I was rejecting every reminder of the Slytherin House, Snape was an easy scapegoat since your Father already had something against him.”   
Harry was silent for a few moments. Remus nudged Sirius out of the way and took the mirror for himself.  
  
“Harry, your Father _was_ a good man. An extremely good man. He accepted me as soon as he found out about my monthly problem without question. He learned to be an Animagus for me. But he wasn’t always himself when Snape was involved. Even though he didn’t like Snape he still saved his life when Snape got too close to me on a full moon. You saw a very small part of our lives and I don’t want you to think that everything you’ve ever been told was a lie.”  
  
“I don’t really know what to think.”  
  
“We weren’t perfect, Harry.” Remus said. And Harry knew that. He really did. Sirius took the mirror back.  
  
“You’ve been through so much, Harry, you were forced to mature quickly in order to get through everything that you’ve been faced with. Your Dad and I, we didn’t have to come into that maturity until much later in life. I’m sorry for what you saw.”  
  
“I guess I just didn’t really know what to think about it all.” Harry shrugged.  
  
“I’m sorry that you’ve had to come to us about this. Maybe next time we see you we can borrow Dumbledore’s Pensieve and show you some better memories of your Mum and Dad?”  
  
“Yeah, I’d like that.” Harry smiled as Sirius grinned once again.  
  
“So what else has been going on?” Sirius asked. And Harry jumped right into telling him about Draco being his Soulmate, about their brief split, about Warrington and his transfer, and how Umbridge had blasted her way into the Room of Requirement. It was nice to talk to him. Harry tried not to think about how much he had missed out on by not having his Mum, his Dad and his Godfather in his life. He had never been able to just sit and chat to an adult. The Dursleys had always preferred him to be as silent as possible, he didn’t even know what Vernon would have done if Harry had tried to sit and talk to him about his school work. Whenever he saw Dumbledore there was always something more pressing to talk about than how he was doing in school. And he would never be able to ignore that Mr Weasley was his best friend's Dad, even though he was sure that he would have sat down with Harry if Harry had requested it.   
  
He spent the rest of the evening talking to Sirius and Remus about what had been going on since Christmas. They tried to suggest some places where Harry could take the DA meetings but they all weren’t really suitable so Harry just put it to the back of his mind once again, he was pretty sure they wouldn’t be able to do anything with the DA for the rest of the year, as much as Hermione had tried to convince him otherwise.  
  
“Is Draco around?” Sirius asked, after someone on his side distracted him.  
  
“He’s at Quidditch practice.”   
  
“Ah, will you call again when he’s with you. Narcissa would like to talk to him.”  
  
“Oh, yes of course. He’s probably about finished actually. We hadn’t planned to hang out tonight but I’ll go and find him. Call you back in a bit?” They said their goodbyes and Harry left the conversation feeling significantly lighter than he did going into it.  
  
X  
  
Harry was sitting in front of a semicircle of pamphlets. His eyes moved from left to right, looking at each of them one at a time. He had collected them from the common room and had taken them to the library where Draco was studying. His eyes were being constantly drawn back and forth between the blue Auror pamphlet at one side and to a green pamphlet at the other side. The green one sported a Snitch, two Bludgers and a Quaffle zooming back and forth across the front along with the caption   
  
_Do you have the talent to be a Professional Quidditch Player?  
_  
He was torn. He'd probably make a pretty good Auror, his grades weren't quite there but he wasn't so far off that it would be unfeasible. He liked the idea of catching bad guys and putting them away but the idea of putting himself on the front line for the rest of his life might just be more than he could handle. Not to mention the paperwork he'd have to deal with. Quidditch on the other hand, he was good at. He was brilliant at it, actually. And he truly loved being up in the air and chasing after a Snitch. But…was he good enough to play professionally? He was good at Hogwarts but out of Hogwarts he was a little fish in a big pond. Not to mention there was only ever one Seeker per team, it wasn't like being a Chaser where you had three times the opportunity. He was sure there would be a lot of competition, and he didn't quite know how he would feel about stepping even further into the public eye.  
  
Basically, he was torn.   
  
The rest of the pamphlets flashed up at him, one from Gringotts, a few from various Ministry offices, a couple to do with working with magical plants or animals … but none of the others sparked his interest. He didn't even notice that Draco had put his book down until he placed a long finger on the top of one of the pamphlets and dragged it towards himself. Harry vaguely saw the logo for St Mungos before Draco was flipping it around.  
  
"Healer?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.  
  
"Possibly." Harry didn't want to press the issue, Draco had told him that he had been expected to join his Father at the Ministry, greasing palms and carrying on the Malfoy legacy, but now his entire life plan was blown to hell.  
  
"You'd be a really good Healer I reckon." Draco didn't respond but Harry saw the way his lips curled up very slightly at the corners. They didn't say anything else for a couple of minutes, Draco was flipping through the information he'd just nabbed from Harry and Harry was busy looking back and forth between his two possible options.  
  
"No one will think any less of you if you go into Quidditch you know." Draco pointed out. Harry jumped, but blushed.  
  
"I don't know, I'm sure it'll be really competitive."  
  
"Harry, you were the youngest Seeker in a century. You were born with talent." Draco rolled his eyes.  
  
"I just think everyone might expect me to be an Auror."   
  
"Fuck them. What do you want to do?"  
  
"I don't know. What if they hire me just because I'm Harry Potter?"  
  
"And you think the Aurors won't be just as ready to hire you just because you're Harry Potter?" Harry shrugged and leaned back in his chair, "Don't be daft Harry, do whatever you want to do and worry about what people think afterwards. You'll have plenty of time to prove that you've earned your spot no matter which direction you take."  
  
"What do you think I should do?"  
  
Draco reached out with that same long finger and nudged a pamphlet titled Apprenticeships. Harry looked at it for a second before looking up at Draco in confusion. He hadn’t even looked through the information, he’d only grabbed it because it was on the table with all the rest of them.  
  
“Apprenticeship?” Harry asked.  
  
“I think you’d be a fantastic Defence Professor.” Draco shrugged, “But honestly I don’t care either way. Why would I? I'll be just as happy to return home to a fit Quidditch player as I would a fit Auror." Draco flushed at his admission but didn't take it back. Truth be told, it was the first time he had mentioned being with Harry after they finished Hogwarts. Harry grinned in response but didn’t pry into the subject, which Draco was immensely thankful for.  
  
“I think I’ll talk to McGonagall about all three. Maybe I could work towards them all. You know, keep my options open.” He grabbed the two that he had his eye on, and the one that Draco had pointed out before sweeping the rest of them into a neat pile.  
  
“I guess there’s no need to rule anything out this soon.”   
  
“You know, I hadn’t ever considered what I would actually do after Hogwarts.” Harry peered out of the window next to them and looked over at the lake and the forest below, “Actually living through my teenage years was a bit more of an abstract concept to me.” Draco kicked him under the table, and glared at him.  
  
“I’ve not gone and found my Soulmate only to lose him a couple of years later. I plan on hanging onto you Potter, so don’t start getting fanciful dreams of escaping from me any time soon.”  
  
“Wouldn’t even think of it my Darling.” Harry grinned back, and hooked his foot around Draco’s under the table. Draco just rolled his eyes and pulled his Transfiguration notes back towards him but he didn’t move his foot away.  
  
“Here,” He pushed a stack of mismatched notes towards Harry, “Potions. I know how rubbish you’re doing, and you’ll need an O to continue with Snape.”  
  
“Thank you Dear.” Harry said sarcastically, but he pulled the notes closer and began to read through them.  
  
X   
  
Skeeter's article hit the next day.   
  
Harry was spreading jam on toast for his breakfast when the owls entered the Hall with that day's post. Harry only needed to glance up at the ridiculous amount of owls streaming through the charmed sky to know that the Quibbler had already made the rounds in some circles. The first owl to land was from Xenophilias Lovegood, holding a rolled up copy of the Quibbler. Harry took it, petted the owls feathers in thanks and waited for it to fly away.  
  
Unfortunately, all the other owls were also waiting for its departure. As soon as its wingspan left Harry's vicinity he was being pelted by letters. All he could do was flinch as the envelopes rained down on him. Hermione on the other hand jumped straight into action, as though she was expecting this to happen, and knowing Hermione she probably did. She started grabbing the bright red Howlers as soon as they fell onto the table, and quickly dumped them into a large bowl (one that had previously been full of apples). Once the bowl was full she cast a quick Incendio. She had to do this at least twice in the time it took for the letters to stop raining down, but once they did Harry was finally able to look at the devastation around him. Letters littered the floor in a circle around him, the students sitting closest had pulled their robes or their bags over their heads, and those who had dived under the table were slowly starting to emerge. Harry picked up a letter that had been embedded halfway into a peach and looked at Hermione in bewilderment.  
  
"I don't think people are too happy." Hermione commented lightly, "Come on, I'll help you collect them all." She began to shuffle them all into piles.   
  
The familiar but slight ache in his chest had him whipping around to find Draco. Who was fine. But he too had been pelted with letters. Not quite as many as Harry, but it was enough for him to be busy setting fire to the Howlers and picking letters out of the big bowl of porridge with two fingers and a look of disgust. The ache faded, obviously having flared up because of Draco's panic at being pelted by unknown objects.  
  
"Potter!" Fuck. Umbridge was striding towards him in all of her pink-ness.   
  
"Yes, Professor?"  
  
"What is the meaning of this?!" She shrilled, motioning at the decimation of various breakfast items strewn across the table.  
  
"It's probably about the interview Professor."  
  
"Interview? What interview?" She was glaring at him, without even bothering to hide her distaste behind the usual thin veil of sickly sweetness.  
  
"I did an interview in Hogsmeade. I thought it would be okay Professor, it was in my own time." Harry feigned innocence, and Hermione had been clever enough to organise it so that it didn't break any of Umbridge's Educational Decrees. Umbridge knew it too.  
  
"Clean this up." She barked, and turned on her heel. Harry grinned at Hermione behind Umbridge’s back, and helped her gather up the rest of the letters. He knew enough about his crazy fans to know not to open any of them without making sure there were no nasty curses or Potions hidden inside first. He glanced over at Draco once more, and was happy to see that the Slytherin had also realised the potential danger and was gathering up the fallen letters much like they were.  
  
Educational Decree Number 27 was created after breakfast was over. Harry just laughed at the sign stating that anyone in possession of the Quibbler would be expelled. The students of Hogwarts weren't so easily swayed when it came to Harry Potter gossip. Throughout the afternoon a slew of charms started making their way through the student population, all of which only made it easier to help the students pass around the Quibbler.  
  
Hermione sat at the Gryffindor table that dinner time looking immensely pleased with herself. And once again Harry vowed to never get on her bad side. Brightest Witch of her age _indeed.  
_


	43. Chapter 43

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Spoiler warning*  
> Scenes of a sexual nature, just a smidge of it :)

He really didn’t know why he even bothered with it anymore, but here he was once again, standing in the middle of Harry’s dormitory with his wand clenched in his fist. He had long since discarded his robe, throwing it across Harry’s bed from sheer frustration, and his tie had joined the robe a few minutes later. He had even pushed the sleeves of his shirt up to his elbows to get them out of the way. He was starting to perspire and the heavy robe and long sleeved shirt weren’t helping him stay cool. The cold winter air in the castle had long since been replaced with Spring and the tower was flooded with warm light from the late sunset. Draco wasn’t used to it, he had lived for years with the darkened windows in Slytherin that looked out into the depths of the lake. He had to admit he much preferred the atmosphere in the tower (even though he would never admit it to Harry).   
  
He wished that they could have gone back to the Room of Requirement to practice, the Gryffindor dorm was much too small and cramped to really give him the space he needed. The beds and belongings of the five boys that resided in the Fifth year dorm took up the majority of the floor space. Unfortunately the Room of Requirement was still a no go, Filch still sat outside the hidden entrance on a daily basis, as though anyone would be stupid enough to return after Umbridge had discovered it. They still hadn't managed to find anywhere else that was suitable for the DA. Draco was fairly sure that Harry had started telling people that he didn't think the group would be re-forming anytime soon. It was disappointing to them all, but without a suitable place to practice there wasn't much they could do.  
  
He pushed the invasive thoughts from his mind and raised his wand once again. With his eyes clenched shut he tried desperately to hold onto his happy memory.  
  
“Expecto Patronum.” The magic rushed through him and out of the tip of his wand. He opened his eyes in anticipation of a beautiful and majestic animal but to no avail.  
  
Mist.  
  
He let the charm drop and he turned and kicked the leg of Harry’s bed. Again. Forcing the Gryffindor to look up from his revision, Harry was longed across his bed with a transfiguration textbook and Draco's notes. He smiled up at Draco encouragingly but didn’t say anything and didn't try to offer any advice. Draco was so over listening to his positive attitude and encouragement. Harry had tried to egg him on an hour ago and had got nothing but a Prefect badge to the face for his troubles.  
  
“Expecto Patronum.” Mist.  
  
“Expecto Patronum.” Mist.  
  
Draco clenched his teeth. He would get this! He would! His fingers tightened on his wand and the Hawthorn bowed slightly in his grip. Ollivander had described it as reasonably springy, and Draco was pretty thankful for that. Any lesser wand would have surely snapped in two from his grip alone. He took a deep, calming breath and collected himself. He needed to be calm to do this, getting frustrated and angry at himself wasn’t going to help the situation.  
  
“Draco,” Harry finally said, he knelt on his bed and shuffled forward until he was within arms reach of his boyfriend. He raised an arm slowly and placed his hand on Draco’s bare forearm, hesitating long enough to allow Draco to shrug him off if he so wished. Their connection stirred, and Draco’s magic branched away from where he was trying to force it out of his wand in favour of rushing to their point of contact. Draco didn’t bother to shrug Harry off, if anything the Gryffindor was helping to ground him. He took another deep breath, and with thoughts and memories full of Harry he raised his wand. He grasped his memories with all his might, but he also concentrated on the way Harry made him feel. Loved. Respected.  _ Powerful _ .   
  
He couldn’t help feeling powerful, certainly more than he ever had before, Harry was the most powerful Wizard he had ever met and magic had chosen Draco to be his equal. That had to mean something. He thought about the way Harry touched him. The small brushes of his hand in classes, the easy way he threw his arm around his shoulders or his waist when they were walking down the corridors. He recalled the press of Harry’s thigh against his own at Dinner times, the brush of his lips against his neck, the crush of his mouth when they were in bed together. Harry loved him. Harry was  _ everything _ to him.  
  
“Expecto Patronum.” Draco clenched his eyes closed once again as he cast the charm. He felt the magic leave his core as it always did, rushing out through the tip of his wand. But he didn’t dare open his eyes, he knew he hadn’t cast it perfectly. His stance was all off, and at the last moment his arm had wavered slightly.  
  
“Draco.” Harry whispered next to him, his hand tightened on Draco’s arm. But still he didn’t open his eyes. He pushed more power into the spell, as though the bodiless mist would suddenly take form.  
  
“Draco,” Harry’s voice was all wrong, it didn’t sound sympathetic, he sounded … awed, “Darling, open your eyes.”  Draco did.  
  
His breath caught in his throat. He was expecting to see the same glowing white mist forming a protective barrier in front of him as it had done so many times before. What he didn’t expect was an owl. A large silvery glowing owl, swooping around their heads.  
  
“It’s-” He was going to say beautiful, but Harry beat him to it.  
  
“Hedwig. It’s Hedwig.” Draco looked closer and…yes, so it was.   
  
There wasn’t much mistaking the snowy owl for Harry’s own Familiar, he had seen her swoop into the Great Hall often over the past five years. She was beautiful and elegant, and his Patronus mimicked her perfectly.  Harry removed his hand from Draco’s arm slowly. Draco had half expected the owl to flicker out of existence, as though she had only been brought to life because of his physical connection with Harry. Their magics did that sometimes, in one DA meeting Harry had made the mistake of touching Draco’s hand when he was casting Reducto, he blasted the dummy in front of him to ashes as well as the pile of cushions he was practicing in front of and half a bookcase. But even without Harry’s physical touch his spell held. The owl landed on the post of Harry’s bed. She opened her mouth in a silent hoot and with one last flap of her wings she faded back into mist. Draco stared speechless at the spot she had disappeared from. He had done it.  
  
“You did it!” Harry exclaimed from next to him.  
  
“I did it?” Harry laughed and pulled Draco round to face him.  
  
“You did it, Draco.” Harry nodded as he cupped Draco’s cheeks and pressed their mouths together in one solid, perfect kiss.  
  
“Well done.” Harry whispered against his lips. He hooked one finger in the collar of Draco’s white shirt and tugged him closer. His knees hit the base of Harry’s bed but Harry kept pulling him forwards, keeping his lips just centimetres out of reach. Draco followed his mouth and climbed up onto the bed to reach him.  
  
“I believe I promised you certain things on the completion of that spell.”  
  
“Yes you did.” Draco replied with a grin. With one last tug on Draco’s collar Harry was falling onto his back, pulling Draco down with him as he fell.  
  
His mouth fell to Harry’s neck. Now that the sun had returned, and Harry’s Quidditch practices had picked up for their last match of the season, his skin had started to tan once again. Draco ran his tongue down the length of the Gryffindor's neck, and down even further, passed the top two open buttons of his school shirt. Draco pressed his mouth to Harry’s clavicle as his fingers quickly flicked open the rest of the buttons that stood in his way. He wasted no time in sweeping his hands across Harry’s chest and pushing the shirt open, he couldn’t remove it without Harry sitting up, and Harry couldn’t sit up until Draco did, which Draco was currently very unwilling to do.  
  
He followed the newly found skin, dropping from Harry’s collarbone down to a nipple. He pressed an open mouth kiss to the pink bud, following it up with a slight pinch of his teeth, which had Harry groaning and bucking his hips up against Draco’s. He continued down Harry’s body, massaging Harry’s skin with the tips of his fingers and pressing kisses and kitten licks to every inch of skin he came across. His fingers ran through the dark trail of hair that started at Harry’s belly button as his mouth swerved to the side to bite at the jut of a slender hip. Harry groaned again.   
  
Draco pressed the heel of his palm to Harry’s erection that was still hidden beneath a pair of black school trousers and a pair of closely fitted boxer briefs. Boxer briefs that Draco particularly enjoyed for the way they framed Harry’s ass. More than once he had pulled back the red and gold hangings around Harry’s bed, and watched the Gryffindor heading to the bathroom with nothing but his underwear on. At this moment in time he appreciated those boxers for the way they held Harry’s cock tight against his stomach. It meant he could drag the palm of his hand up and down that thick length with long and slow movements, avoiding the awkward fumbles that came when there was too much material in the way. He looked up at Harry from where he was licking a stripe of skin over Harry’s right hip. He had thrown his glasses to one side, and had settled with his arms folded under his head and waited for Draco to take the lead.  
  
“This is my reward?” He asked, as his fingers pressed down onto Harry’s cock, and at Harry’s nod he said, “I want a blow job.” Draco shifted onto his knees and smirked at the Gryffindor’s flushed and marked skin. Draco revelled in the way the bite mark on his hip bloomed to a rosy redness and as it darkened into a bruise Draco circled it with the very tip of one finger.  
  
“And how would you like it?” Harry asked, raising himself onto one arm while his other one snaked around to take a handful of Draco’s gorgeous arse. Draco considered his options for a moment, and as he thought about it he allowed himself to relax into the strong hand that was kneading his arse cheek in slow hypnotic movements.  
  
“I think I like you just like this. Don’t move.” He stripped quickly, and batted away Harry’s hands which reached out and tried to “help” him every now and then. He kicked off his school trousers and underwear without any fanfare and he blushed as the heavy weight of his erection bobbed up against his stomach. He knelt next to Harry’s side, enjoying the way that Harry’s hand slid up and down his thigh, stroking his newly naked skin with reverence. His eyes bore into Draco’s from his horizontal position on the bed, they shined up at him with that impossible shade of green that Draco just couldn’t get enough of. He threw his leg over Harry’s chest and shuffled up so that his knees were almost pressed against his triceps.   
  
Harry just stared at him, with his pupils blown wide and his breath releasing in short pants. Without a word between them Harry bent his head down, with his chin almost touching his chest, and he took the flushed tip of Draco’s cock between his lips.  
  
“Fuck.” Draco rocked forward, his grey eyes locked with Harry's as his lips stretched even further around the width of Draco’s cock. But Harry didn’t stop there, he reached around Draco with both hands and gripped handfuls of Draco’s arse cheeks to silently urge him even further forward. With Harry’s hands behind him and the willing mouth swallowing him down in front of him, it was easy for Draco to find a pace that suited them both. He lost himself in wide green eyes, and wide open lips. Pressing in and pulling back with long slow strokes.  
  
He wouldn’t last like this. Not while Harry was staring up at him with hooded eyes and Draco’s dick in his mouth. He could feel his orgasm fast approaching and almost against his better judgement he pulled out of Harry’s mouth with a pop. His dick slapped against Harry’s cheek in the most filthy erotic way.  
  
“Too soon.” He panted, “Gonna cum.”  
  
“Topping?” Harry asked.  
  
“That was the deal.” Draco smirked again. But shivered as Harry’s lips brushed against the head of his cock.  
  
“Then take me however you want me.”  
  
So Draco did. With Harry flat on his back, his legs thrown over Draco’s shoulders. Their breaths coming out in harsh pants. Their sweat slicked skin sliding together. It was sexy, it was glorious, it was  _ perfect _ . Draco finished with a long groan and a stutter of his hips against Harry’s ass. He slumped slightly and pressed a kiss to Harry’s ankle before helping his boyfriend rearrange his stiff limbs. Draco helped Harry pull his legs down from his shoulders and gently massaged his calves and thighs for a few seconds each, which prevented all the blood rushing back at once and causing a decidedly non-sexy leg cramp (which was something they had learnt the hard way). He collapsed next to Harry and pressed his forehead to Harry’s shoulder as Harry cast the usual cleaning charms.  
  
“So,” Harry started after a few minutes of basking in the afterglow, “An owl?”  
  
“Your owl.” Draco corrected with a nod. He should have expected really. He was completely stupid over Harry, makes sense that his magic would take the form of something that meant a lot to Harry.  
  
“You  _ like _ me.” Harry sing-songed.  
  
“You’re my Soulmate, you big idiot.” Harry laughed but hooked his fingers under Draco’s chin and turned to kiss him.  
  
“I love you too.”  
  
Draco groped around for his wand which he had stashed under the pillow.  
  
"Expecto Patronum." The owl flew around the room twice before disappearing. Harry looked at him with a raised eyebrow, "Just checking it wasn't a fluke." And Harry laughed fondly.


	44. Chapter 44

Harry walked down to the Quidditch pitch with Ron, Dean, Seamus and Neville, it was the day of the Slytherin v Hufflepuff match and Harry was excited to cheer on his boyfriend, even if it meant he was having to support the rest of the Slytherin team in the process. Hermione had opted to stay in the castle, making use of the empty library to monopolise the revision materials for their OWLs. Although she had promised to come meet them after the game so they could all go down to visit Hagrid together, just as they had promised. The half-giant hadn’t been looking his best since his return to the Castle and all three of them were concerned for his well being so they didn’t want to miss this chance to question him properly.  
  
Harry, with Draco’s green and silver scarf draped around his neck, laughed and joked along with his friends as they pushed and nudged each other on their way down the grassy slopes to the entrance of the stands. He didn’t hesitate to push his way through the crowds to get to the last gap in the front row, Ron managed to squeeze in by his side and the other three boys had to huddle together on the row behind them. Even though he was wearing a Slytherin scarf Harry had promised them that he wouldn’t cheer any of the Slytherin goals (like he would anyway, Pucey and Montague were no friends of his) as long as they let him cheer Draco on when he went for the Snitch. He stood against the barrier and hollered and whistled along with the crowd cheering for Hufflepuff but hoping for the Slytherin win, and just let himself get swept up in the joviality of the Quidditch bug that permeated through the school every match day.   
  
Meanwhile Draco clutched at his broom, the leather of his fingerless gloves creaked slightly as his fingers tightened on the black wood. He stood behind the rest of the team silently, waiting for their cue to fly out into the centre of the pitch and take their starting positions. He glared slightly at Montague and Pucey who were standing closest to the pitch entrance (and the furthest away from him) but he kept his tongue in check. No matter what he thought of his team mates, he really did want to win this game, and they were already one Chaser down. He found himself smiling slightly at the cheers and hollers from the crowd on the other side of the curtain, he was pretty sure that seventy five percent of the school would be cheering for Hufflepuff, but he still let himself get lost in the excitement. And not to mention, Harry would be out there, cheering him on. That in itself was enough to keep his spirits up. .  
  
The curtains opened. He mounted his broom and kicked off hard. He swooped out of the corridor that led from the changing area to the pitch, ducking slightly lower to make it out of the entrance so he didn’t brain himself on the low beam. He circled the pitch twice. He loved playing Quidditch, not quite as much as Harry of course, but he loved being on a broom hovering fifty foot in the air, he loved how crisp the air was and how close the clouds were. This was freedom. He took in the stands full of students, and the raised areas where the teachers were seated. He scanned the crowd, but it only took a second to find Harry, a blob of green amongst the sea of yellow supporters, his eyes were locked on Draco completely. Grinning up at him from where he was hanging over the edge of the raised stands, hanging half out onto the pitch and ignoring the rest of the players in favour and clapping and cheering just for him. He eased himself into place opposite Summerby, the Hufflepuff Seeker.  
  
Madam Hooch blew the whistle. And the match began.  
  
Draco hovered overhead for the majority of the game. Every now and then he would shoot over to one side of the pitch, making Summerby believe he had spotted the Snitch, only to start drifting about once he had made it to the other end. Even throughout his strategy of throwing off the opposite Seeker he kept both eyes peeled for the Snitch, he needed to catch it quickly. Being one Chaser down was already starting to take its toll on the overall score. All of the Slytherin plays counted on there being three Chasers to pull them off, so Montague and Pucey were left to figure it out between themselves. Draco watched as goal after goal was scored by the Hufflepuff team. His jaw clenched. Once again he noticed Summerby starting to zone in on one area of the pitch, as though he had seen something, so Draco bent low over his broom and shot straight forward, brushing by the Hufflepuff and knocking him off balance, causing him to lose sight of whatever had caught his eye.  
  
The game dragged on. The score was ticking higher and higher in favour of the Huffepuffs, the Slytherins had managed a few goals but they were outmanned and were being outstripped by the Huffepuffs. He needed to catch that Snitch now. Another goal by Zacharias Smith, the Hufflepuff Captain. Time was ticking and still Draco hadn’t seen even the faintest glint of gold. He took a moment to glance down at Harry, once he realised that he was once again on that side of the pitch. Harry grinned at him and clapped in his direction.  
  
Cheers ran out across the stands as Cadwallader took possession of the Quaffle and sped towards the Slytherin keeper Bletchley, who was flying between the three Slytherin goals looking as defeated as Draco was starting to feel. He had played well, blocking a good portion of the goals, but their Chasers just couldn’t keep possession and he was starting to flag.   
  
Draco glanced down at Harry once again. The Gryffindor had his eyes completely fixed on Draco. He appreciated it, even though he knew that there was an entire game that Harry was ignoring in the background. And then, Harry’s eyes darted past him. Looking intently at a spot at least twenty feet behind his left ear. Harry had seen the Snitch. Draco whirled around. Still not entirely sure which direction he was going in, but he trusted Harry’s impeccable instincts. He was already streaming in the direction of the Snitch when he finally saw it. A delicate blur of gold, it’s little wings beating so fast that it would have been out of sight within seconds if Draco hadn’t already set his eyes on it. Thank Merlin for Harry Potter.  
  
The chase was short. Summerby had been halfway across the other side of the pitch and had ignored Draco’s pivot turn, thinking that the Slytherin Seeker was playing him again. The words that Draco loved to hear rang out across the stands -  
  
“Malfoy catches the Snitch for Slytherin.”   
  
But it hadn’t been enough, “Hufflepuff lead with 210 to 200 points. Hufflepuff wins!”  
  
The cheers for Hufflepuff would usually have killed his euphoric mood entirely. If it weren’t for those impossibly green eyes staring up at him from the Gryffindor stands, waving his green scarf in the air. Cheering for his personal victory. They hadn’t won the game. But he had done his part as well as he could. He saw Harry and Ron push their way through the stands. Harry had already apologised at having to rush away as soon as the match ended, something about promising to visit Hagrid. He shrugged it off, he was happy enough to have a personal cheerleader for the entire game, he could live without a post-game snog.   
  
He didn’t particularly want to.   
  
But he could.  
  
X  
  
“Hagrid’s hiding a giant in the Forest.” Was the first thing that Harry said to Draco after he had thrown himself into the seat next to him in the library. Draco’s quill hovered over the parchment in front of him with a bead of ink hovering from the tip, and Harry watched it for the full second it took to drop down onto the parchment below.   
  
“Ex-excuse me?” Draco stuttered. His eyes were wide and his mouth had fallen open from shock.  
  
“When Hagrid came back to Hogwarts-” Harry said slowly, “He brought a giant back with him.”  
  
“A giant?” Draco asked again.  
  
“Yes.” Harry answered.  
  
“Fuck off…” He said disbelievingly, “If this is some kind of prank, I have to tell you I really don’t get it.” The Slytherin’s eyes narrowed.  
  
“There. Is. A giant. In. The Forbidden Forest.” Harry spelled out until Draco finally caught on. The blonde placed his quill down silently.  
  
“But- How? How has no one noticed?”  
  
“He’s just a little giant.” Harry thought for a second, “In comparison to other giants… apparently. Not that I’ve ever seen a giant.”  
  
“ _Why?”_ Draco asked, realising that he really hadn’t gained any information from his current line of questioning.  
  
“He’s Hagrid's brother…Half brother.” Harry looked slightly confused, and a little bit disgusted at the idea of a Wizard having sex with a giantess.

“And Hagrid thought…that the best place for him…was a School full of students?” Draco said slowly, he looked horrified.  
  
“I admit, not his best idea. Grawp’s mostly harmless though, he’s big and a bit slow on the uptake but he’s not mean. A somewhat gentle giant.”  
  
“ _Grawp!?”_ Draco exclaimed as quietly as he could in the stillness of the half abandoned library. Quidditch emotions were still running high in the student population, no doubt the Hufflepuffs were having a victory party and the Slytherins were drowning their sorrows. While the Ravenclaws and Gryffindors were partying for the sake of a party, no reason was necessary apparently.  
  
“Hey,” Harry held his hands out defensively, “Don’t look at me like that, I didn’t name him.”   
  
“I’m going to ask again, _why?”  
  
_ “Hagrid said that all the other giants were bullying him, because he’s only a baby.”  
  
“For fucks sake.” Draco murmured, “He’s a fucking lunatic.”   
  
“Hey!”  
  
“Come on Harry, you can’t possibly think that he’s in his right mind? He brought a giant to a school!”  
  
“I know, it’s a bit reckless. Hermione was beside herself when she found out.”  
  
“Why did he tell you anyway? He’s been back for months now, surely he could have told you when he first got back?”  
  
“He’s expecting Umbridge to get rid of him sooner rather than later, and he wants us to…keep him company…I guess, and teach him English.”  
  
“Keep…Him…Company… _Teach…Him…English?”_ Draco’s voice dropped low into a hiss, it was all he could do in the Library, had they been anywhere else he would have been throwing his hands up in the air and making exclamations at the top of his voice, “He’s absolutely barking Harry.”   
  
“Yeah, I know.” Harry just shrugged, and went back to watching Draco who was still trying to wrap his mind around the fact that the groundskeeper was a certifiable madman.  
  
“Well done today.” Harry said finally with a cheerful grin and he nudged Draco’s knee with his own under the table.  
  
“We didn’t win.” Draco said, trying to shrug off the compliment but flushing under Harry’s scrutiny.  
  
“You did great, you did your job perfectly.”  
  
“I didn’t even see the Snitch first you know.” Draco said lightly.  
  
“What do you mean?” Harry asked while feigning innocence.  
  
“You know what I mean, _you_ saw the Snitch.”  
  
“Seekers prerogative.” Harry grinned and shrugged, “Do you want to come up to Gryffindor? I think the twins managed to pilfer some Firewhiskey from the House-Elves.”  
  
“I’m studying Potter.” Draco said, but he didn’t exactly say no, so Harry persisted.  
  
“You just caught the Snitch. You deserve a little celebration.” He pointed out, “Come on,” Harry poked him in the arm, “Come have a Butterbeer with me,” A poke to his thigh, “Draaaa-co.” A poke to his side.  
  
“Fine! Fine. Fine.” Draco batted his hands away and packed up his things. Passing his bag over to Harry who took it without complaint.  
  
“Oh, and…” Harry turned to face him. He cupped Draco’s jaw in one hand and leaned forward to press a solid and lingering kiss to his mouth, “Well done Darling, wonderful flying today.” Draco grinned and held Harry’s hand all the way out of the library and up to the entrance of Gryffindor tower.


	45. Chapter 45

It was a Monday.  
  
Not only was it a Monday, but it was also his Birthday.  
  
Draco was convinced that having a Birthday on a Monday was the worst punishment ever. It meant that he had to sit through hours upon hours of classes and endure the constant reminders that their OWLs were due to start in less than two weeks. It also meant that instead of being thrown a lavish party and being surrounded by all his friends, he had to sit in the library, bored out of his mind. Of course, he could very well have opted out of going to the library, he was sure no one would have minded. But if he wasn’t sat in the library with his Boyfriend and the Gryffindors while they were studying, he’d only be sat in the Slytherin common room with Blaise and Pansy while  _ they _ were studying. And out of both evils he had decided that being with Harry was far better than not being with Harry, even if he was being an absolute dolt.  
  
He was sure that Harry knew it was his Birthday. He had mentioned it months ago, back before Christmas when they had been using the charmed parchment to communicate, and while they were still in the ‘getting to know you’ phase of their relationship. But if Harry did know, then he was yet to mention it, never mind to actually give him a gift. He had been woken that morning by a persistent mouth on his neck and a solid arm wrapped firmly around his waist. Draco had expected Harry to wish him Happy Birthday at that point, but he hadn’t. Instead he’d pressed kisses into Draco’s skin and fucked him so deep into the mattress that Draco had forgotten what day it was entirely and all thoughts of Birthday wishes and presents had left his mind.  
  
At breakfast Harry had chosen to sit at the Gryffindor table with his friends, while Draco sat with Blaise and Pansy and tried not to take it personally that today of all days Harry had decided that he needed to spend quality time with the Gryffindors. So when a large brown barn owl landed in front of him bearing gifts from not only his Mother but Sirius as well, Harry wasn’t around to notice. He appreciated the collection of rare Potions books that Sirius had given him from the Black Family library, and if a few of them bordered on being dark magic, well... Draco wasn’t about to tell anyone. His Mother had sent him a wonderful double breasted trench coat and was made from a dark grey lightweight wool with large black buttons down the front. Even though it was a Muggle design Draco couldn’t wait for the chance to wear it, and he knew he had the most perfect pair of trousers to match. He had been in need of a summer coat and this was perfect.  
  
While at breakfast Pansy had gifted him with a small stack of cotton dress shirts, each one more expensive than the last. He could count on Pansy to keep him fashionable and up to date, even if he had more important things to worry about these days. Blaise had passed over a new pair of black dragon hide seeker gloves and a selection box of Honeydukes finest. He accepted both of them gratefully. And he didn’t mention how Harry had forgotten, he didn’t want his friends to storm over to the Gryffindor table and hex the living shit out of him.   
  
Draco was trying his best not to complain about his Boyfriend potentially forgetting his Birthday. He knew how hard Harry was working to get through all of his exams with good grades, being an Auror was still something he was potentially working towards, but it would be a dream that was dead in the water if he wasn’t able to reach the grades required. So recently whenever Harry got stuck into his revision, Draco did his best to fade into the background. Usually that worked out just fine, Draco had exams too after all and so what if their normal make-out dates had turned into study dates, the OWLs were important enough.  
  
But today wasn’t any other Monday. Today was his Birthday. And he deserved to have a night off. And he deserved to spend that night off with his Soulmate. Draco absentmindedly sucked on the end of a sugar quill while he looked out of the window next to him. Harry had told him weeks ago not to ever let him sit next to the window in the library, because he would be far too tempted to drift off and stare out at the grounds. And Draco could see why. A few of the younger Hufflepuffs were playing a game of ground Quidditch, there were a group of Ravenclaws sat under a tree studying, a few Gryffindors in bathing suits at the edge of the lake, and a handful of Slytherin girls tanning themselves under the rare early June sun.  
  
Because Draco was staring so intently out of the window, he didn’t see Ron tapping at the face of his watch, indicating something to the others. Or Hermione starting to clear up the books in front of her. He was too busy watching the Giant Squid lift a Quaffle and throw it back to the shore towards the Hufflepuffs’ game of ground Quidditch. And he chuckled a little at the Slytherin girls who squealed as the ball soared over their heads and splattered them with an arc of lake water.  
  
“Draco.” Harry nudged him in the side to get his attention.  
  
“Hmm?” Draco tore his eyes away from where one of the Slytherins was brandishing her wand towards a small Hufflepuff boy. He would be more concerned but they were first years and the worst they could do was a Jelly-Legs Jinx at the very most.  
  
“We’re all heading outside. Are you coming?” He looked over at the three Gryffindors. Hermione was packing away the rest of her books. Ron was shifting notes back into a pile and Harry was smiling at him fondly.  
  
“Yeah, I guess.” He sighed. Earlier he had been trying to keep the hurt out of his voice, but now he just went with it. If Harry hadn’t yet bothered to ask him what was wrong, then he was unlikely to catch on at all this late in the day. Draco would just wait a few days and casually mention that Harry had forgotten his Birthday and demand retribution. Harry would feel so guilty that he would pretty much do anything that Draco wanted.  
  
Once their table was clear Harry took his hand and they walked out of the library behind Ron and Hermione. Draco was quiet and reserved as they made their way down from the third floor to the Entrance Hall and then out to the Hogwarts grounds. They passed the group of Hufflepuffs on the front lawn and carried on down to the edge of the Forest. Draco figured that they were finding somewhere to sit with a bit of shade, Hermione was far too sensible to allow any of them to sit directly in the sun and Draco might be pale but Ron was ginger and out of all of them he was the most likely to burn. They all couldn’t be like Harry and Hermione who tanned instantly at the faintest hint of sunshine overhead.  
  
Harry didn’t let go of Draco’s hand as they passed Hagrid’s Hut and walked straight into the Forbidden Forest. Draco huffed. If these bloody Gryffindors were taking him to see that damned giant,  _ on his Birthday _ , he would kill all three of them and feed them to the bloody great thing. If Draco had bothered to look up into the trees, instead of staring glumly at his feet, he would have noticed the subtle trail of lights that was leading the four of them deeper into the forest.  
  
“How bloody far-” Ron started to complain but was quickly cut off by Hermiones sharp exclamation of, “Ronald!” Draco didn’t pay much attention to the way they elbowed each other in the ribs, or the way that Harry poked both of them in the back to get them to continue on down the half hidden pathway.  
  
Draco was stepping over a particularly large, moss covered branch when everything in front of him disappeared in a cloud of darkness. He plunged his hand into the front of his robes to grip his wand and tried to tighten his hold on Harry, but the Gryffindor was slipping out of his grip and disappearing into the inky blackness. He looked around him but he couldn’t even see the sun above, nor could he even see the floor beneath his feet. He was on the very edge of panic when he heard Harry cast, “Finite.”   
  
The dark cloud disappeared.  
  
“SURPRISE!”   
  
Only to be replaced by a cannon fire of confetti raining down on him.  
  
He looked around the clearing in bewilderment. There were banners strung up in the trees, and balloons flashing rainbow colours tied to branches. A semi-circle of conjured tables held a small collection of presents, a fountain of punch, a large selection of various finger foods and a large cake with green frosting. Draco couldn’t speak, he just stood there taking in the odd group of people who had gathered together to celebrate his birthday. Mostly members of the DA who he had been on good terms with, plus Blaise and Pansy who stood to one side but were nevertheless there, no matter how uncomfortable they might have felt.  
  
Harry was suddenly standing in front of him with a wide grin and open arms. Arms which Draco happily fell into in relief. Someone in the group had managed to rustle up a wireless and The Weird Sisters started playing throughout the clearing.   
  
“I know you knew about it, but I appreciate you pretending like you didn’t.” Harry said into his neck, and Draco was dumbfounded.  
  
“I had no idea.” He said honestly and Harry pulled back from his neck.  
  
“What? But… You must have noticed something was up? I was sure you heard me talking to Dobby about your cake a few days ago.” Draco briefly remembered exiting the bathroom in the tower and seeing Harry sitting on the edge of his bed looking guilty. He hadn’t known what it was about and didn’t think too much of it as they got ready for bed. Harry got that same look whenever he broke a quill that belonged to someone else, or took someone’s seat in the Great Hall, so Draco hadn’t thought it was anything serious, “And I thought Blaise or Pansy would have said something to you. Not to mention half the Gryffindors are shite at keeping secrets.”  
  
“The point of a surprise party is for it to be a surprise, is it not?” Draco rolled his eyes.  
  
“But I thought that was why you hadn’t mentioned your Birthday all day. I thought we were both just pretending you didn’t know anything about it.”  
  
“I actually didn’t know anything about it, so that would be why I never mentioned it. Funnily enough.” Draco was starting to get a little annoyed with Harry’s insistence, as though he hadn’t spent the last nine hours of the day feeling like shit because of it.  
  
“Merlin, I’m sorry Draco. And I didn’t even…” Harry trailed off and Draco recognised Harry’s guilty expression.  
  
“What?” Draco prompted.  
  
“I didn’t even say Happy Birthday to you all day. You must have thought…” Harry frowned, “You must have thought that I forgot.”  
  
Draco didn’t answer, he just shrugged.  
  
“Fuck. I’m so sorry, Darling.” Harry nudged Draco’s chin up with a single finger and he pressed their lips firmly together, “I promise I didn’t forget. I’ve been planning this for the past week, and I even got you a present." Harry gestured to the large wooden trunk that sat in front of the present table, and just looking at it made Draco extremely curious about its contents, "Happy Birthday.”  
  
Draco just fell back into Harry’s hug and pressed his face into the Gryffindors neck. Of course Harry wouldn’t have forgotten. He had been daft to think that his wonderful Harry would have forgotten something as important as his Birthday.  
  
“Why didn’t you say anything?” Harry asked from where his nose was buried in Draco’s blonde hair.  
  
“Didn’t want to distract you from your revision.” Harry pulled back far enough to meet Draco’s eyes with his own once more.  
  
“You could  _ never _ be a distraction.” Harry kissed him once more.  
  
“Oy!” The yell from across the clearing had them pulling apart and looking back at the rest of the group, Seamus was standing next to the table that was laden down with snacks, “Can we eat or what?”  
  
“Yeah, yeah, we’re coming.” Harry laughed at the Irish boy and he dragged Draco into the heart of the party. When Draco passed by the twins he felt something being dropped onto his head.  
  
“Hey!” He cried and his hands flung up to see what the ginger menaces had done to his wonderful hair. But his hands met metal, “What did you do?” His eyes narrowed at the two grinning brothers. He ran his hands over the thing that sat on top of his head, it was a ...crown? Complete with large gems that were no doubt gaudy and brightly coloured and, as per their reputation, it was stuck firmly to his head. Harry laughed at the crown that sat primly on top of Draco’s beautiful blonde head.  
  
“Your Royal Highness.” Harry grinned widely and mocked a low bow. As did the twins.  
  
“You two are a hazard to society.” Draco said to the twins who were falling over themselves with laughter.  
  
“Tell me straight Harry… Am I still blonde? Have they done anything to my hair?”   
  
“Blonde and perfect, as per usual my Dear. Don’t worry, the twins wouldn’t be mean to you on your Birthday. It really is just a crown, and I dare say it does suit you.  
  
“Of course it does,” Draco raised his chin into the air, “I can pull anything off.”  
  
“That you can, my love. Now come on, everyone wants cake.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just wanted to say a massive thank you to everyone who's reading this fic and taking the time to kudos or comment. You're all spurring me on to complete my next big project. I appreciate it so much and I celebrate every single hit/kudos/comment/bookmark/subscribe. You're all fantastic <3


	46. Chapter 46

Draco had gone to bed early that night, for the very specific reason of being well rested for his first OWL exam in the morning. It shouldn’t be a problem for him really, he was rather good at Charms. So, why the actual fuck was he still awake? He’d spent the past four hours tossing and turning in his bed, kicking the blankets away because he was too hot, pulling them back because he was too cold. Stuffing his pillow up under his head only to beat it back down because it was straining his neck at a weird angle. He had tried sleeping on his back, only to huff and flip over onto his front. Trying to settle on his right side had been just as uncomfortable, as had his left side. He had finally given up, and had flopped down until he was lying flat on his back, legs spread wide and arms flung out on either side of him. His blankets were crumpled and forgotten at the bottom of the bed where he had kicked them after getting his legs tangled up in the thick material. He was staring up at the canopy overhead, wide awake and utterly pissed off.   
  
The last time he had felt like this he had been lying with Harry in Grimmauld Place, the day before they were due to catch the Hogwarts Express to return to Hogwarts after the winter break. His head had been resting next to Harry’s on the pillow. His back searing with warmth where Harry’s bare chest was heating him from behind. There had been a hand on his hip and a forehead resting against his shoulder. It had still taken him a while to go to sleep, but it had been much easier being lulled by the soft snores that came from behind him. So he had to ask himself, why the fuck did he insist on sleeping separately on this night in particular? He had been convinced that he would be able to revise enough to tire his brain out and stop himself from overthinking every possible outcome and every possible question that he may or may not have revised. He had been wrong.   
  
Draco cast another Tempus and groaned as he noticed another half an hour had trickled by. It was two thirty in the morning and sleep was still eons away. He really should have stayed with Harry.  Another five minutes passed.  
  
Draco huffed out of frustration and swung his legs out of bed. He grabbed his school bag, tipping out everything but his Charms notes and stuffed in his uniform that he had laid out for the next day, he would worry about creases in the morning. He slid his feet into his school shoes, wincing at the feeling of leather against his bare feet, and grabbed Harry’s invisibility cloak. He chuckled slightly to himself when he realised that he was probably using it more than Harry these days. Harry was only too happy to lend it to him at a moment's notice, Draco figured it was probably an extension of his protection Oath. He threw the invisibility cloak over his head and with a quick silencing charm he made his way out of the dormitory and down through the common room.   
  
The halls were quiet, not that he was expecting anything else in the early hours of the morning. He had to dodge Mrs Norris at the entrance to the dungeons and had moved on quickly when he saw her stop in her tracks and stare right at him. He remembered Harry once mentioning that he wasn’t sure if she could see through the cloak or not, and Draco wasn’t willing to stick around to find out. He made it past the first floor and took a hard turn onto the second floor once he noticed the flicker of a lamp coming down the stairs towards him. Filch. Draco knew there was a staircase somewhere around…there. Behind a tapestry. The staircase with the vanishing step that Harry always had to remind him to jump over. He emerged on the Fourth floor and continued on up to the Seventh. This shortcut also allowed him to skip past Umbridge’s office entirely, as well as her usual patrol route that she monitored twice a night.   
  
Once he made it to the portrait of the Fat Lady, he dropped the silencing charm and said the password “ _ Ingressum _ ” . The Fat Lady mumbled in her sleep and swung open. She hadn’t even bothered to open her eyes to see who was entering the common room, if she had she would have been surprised to see that no one was in front of her at all. Or maybe not, Harry went on invisible night time jaunts regularly enough. Draco climbed through to the common room, wrinkling his nose, as he always did, at the high step up and the awkward clamber he was forced to do. He was surprised to see that there were still a couple of Fifth year girls up, half asleep and pouring over notes, with their heads so close to the parchment that their noses were dragging over the long since dried ink. He rolled his eyes and made his way silent and invisible through the common room and up to Harry’s dorm.  
  
Draco dropped his bag next to Harry’s bed, he pulled out his uniform and draped it over the trunk so that it wouldn’t sit in a crumpled mess in his bag overnight. He left his shoes neatly next to Harry’s (which had obviously been kicked off messily) and he pulled the curtains back. It took a little bit of nudging, but he managed to get Harry to sleepily shift over far enough so he could climb into bed next to him. He pulled the red sheets up to his chin and for the first time that evening he closed his eyes and relaxed. Finally falling asleep to the sound of soft huffs of breath against the nape of his neck.  
  
X   
  
The next morning they woke up almost simultaneously, no doubt triggered by some boneheaded Gryffindor slamming the door, or stubbing their toe on a trunk, or tripping over a discarded shoe, all of which had been true on previous occasions. Draco grumbled half asleep but kept his eyes closed against the harsh sunlight, he trusted Harry to have set an alarm the night before so he wasn’t worried about waking up late and was more than content to stay asleep for as long as possible. His late night hadn’t done him any favours. There was an arm around his waist, pinning him to the bed in the most delightful way. Draco felt Harry’s arm flex slightly around his midriff, and felt him startle awake at the shock of having someone else in his bed.  
  
“I don’t believe you were here when I went to bed last night.” Harry murmured into the back of his neck. His voice was rough from sleep but the way Harry whispered the words into his skin made Draco’s toes curl in delight.  
  
“Hmm, no.” Draco replied, still trying to hang onto the edges of sleep.  
  
“What time did you get here?” Harry asked, and Draco kicked him slightly with his foot to get him to shut up.  
  
“Shush. Sleep.”  
  
“Sorry Darling, but the alarm’s going to go off any minute now.” Harry leaned up on his elbow to press a kiss to Draco’s cheek, “Couldn’t sleep?”  
  
“Nu-uh.” Harry smiled down at the blonde.  
  
“I’ll give you a few more minutes. I’ll come wake you up when I’ve finished in the bathroom.” Harry kissed him once again and climbed out of bed, making sure to tuck the sheets around Draco. He pulled the curtains tightly closed, knowing how much Draco preferred to sleep in the pitch black and collected his toiletries. He spared the Slytherin robes a fond smile as he dug through his trunk.  
  
“Slytherin robes?” Seamus asked with a lewd grin in Harry’s direction. Harry picked up a dirty sock and launched it at him, it was pointless though, his aim was as shit as always and it ended up veering off to the left.  
  
“Fuck off, Seamus.”  
  
“Malfoy stay the night?” Neville asked, his nerves at being in close proximity to the Slytherin had long since passed and they were on fairly good terms now.  
  
“Apparently,” Harry shrugged, “Only knew he was here when I woke up.”   
  
“I’m surprised you haven’t got in trouble for sneaking him in here yet.” Dean commented from the other side of the room.  
  
“No one’s stopped us yet. Bit late for them to start trying now.”  
  
“Clear favouritism that is mate, bloody Boy-Who-Lived shite isn’t it?” Ron emerged from the bathroom, still half dressed.  
  
“You fuck off and all.” Harry answered, but laughed along with Ron as he passed him to go into the bathroom.  
  
Ten minutes later, freshly showered, Harry pulled back the curtain on his bed and smiled fondly down at his boyfriend. Draco had succeeded in falling back to sleep, he had grabbed an armful of duvet cover and had pulled it against his chest, his mouth was hanging half open with his cheek pressed against the pillow. Harry reached out and ran his hand through the soft locks of Draco’s impossibly blonde hair.  
  
“Come on, up you get.” He said softly, “We have an hour and a half to get dressed, eat, and do some last minute revision.” His hand didn’t stop moving against Draco’s scalp until the blonde whined low in his throat and pulled the covers over his head. Only to emerge seconds later with his eyes finally open and his mouth closed.  
  
“Fine. I’m up, I’m up.” He got out of bed and pushed passed Harry to get to the bathroom, ignoring the rest of the fifth year boys who were still wandering around in various states of readiness.   
  
It only took Draco twenty minutes to get ready, scrimping on his usual hour long morning routine due to the lack of his usual lotions and potions, and lamenting on the lack of his Complementing Mirror which he always tried to get a peek into every morning. He walked down to the Great Hall with the Gryffindors. Breakfast passed by quickly and was filled with last minute revision. Hermione had propped a charms book against a fruit bowl and Draco had managed to snag a seat next to her. It worked in his favour, it meant he could eat a proper breakfast but still lean over and read the pages as she turned them. Harry on the other hand had been staring at the page in front of him for far too long and Draco doubted that any of the information was sinking in.  
  
“You’ll do great.” He nudged Harry’s knee with his own under the table, “Charms is a good subject for you.”  
  
“I’m not as good at it as you are.” Harry grumbled.  
  
“No, but you’re not anywhere near failing either.” Draco kissed him on the cheek quickly and turned back to Hermione’s book to finish off the page before she turned it over.  
  
The Charms written paper was a fair representation of their learning over the past five years. Draco finished in a reasonable amount of time, and had enough time to flick back through and check his answers. He suddenly wished his last name didn’t start with an M. He was sitting a couple of rows in front of Harry and he wished he could see how well he was doing, for all of Harry’s stress earlier that morning Draco knew that nothing on that paper should have been a challenge for him. He closed the paper and raised his hand, the invigilator walked past him and collected his answer paper and he was finally free to go. He walked out of the hall slowly, trying to be as quiet as possible, he passed by Harry and when the Gryffindor glanced up he offered him an encouraging smile.   
  
“Draco! How did you do? Question five-” Draco blanked her out unintentionally as he joined her on the bottom step of the grand staircase. He usually wouldn’t have dreamed of sitting down in such a place, but he was too busy thinking about Harry to be bothered about his robes getting dirty.  
  
“Draco?”  
  
“Huh?”  
  
“Question five?”  
  
“Oh, sorry, I thought it was a good question. I managed to sneak in some information on banishing spells as well as summoning. I don’t know if it’ll do much good but it was worth a try. It was worded rather ambiguously so I might get a couple of marks.” He looked away from Hermione once more as Harry exited the Great Hall. He didn’t look too upset either, which Draco saw as a good thing.   
  
“Okay, Harry?” Hermione asked.  
  
“Yeah, I think so.” He smiled and took a seat behind Draco on the step above him, his legs bracketed him on both sides. He felt himself relaxing back into the V of Harry’s legs.  
  
“We might as well wait for Ron and then go somewhere to practice for the practical exam this afternoon.” Hermione suggested, “We have a bit of time before lunch.”  
  
They agreed and the next ten minutes were spent talking quietly as the students left the Hall one by one. Draco had started his own little game, commenting on what grade he thought they would get based on their demeanour alone.  
  
“Oh definitely a D.” Draco murmured as Justin Finch-Fletchley exited the Hall, Harry barked out a laugh next to him.  
  
“He looks confident though.” Harry pointed out, “You just don’t like him.”  
  
“No comment,” Draco turned his nose up in the air and watched as the doors opened once again for Anthony Goldstein, he looked confident and he was a Ravenclaw Prefect, “E.” Draco said.  
  
“O.” Hermione countered, she had been appalled when Draco had started his little game, but had soon been sucked into it almost against her will, “He’s really good in Charms.” She defended, Draco nodded in acknowledgement.  
  
Then Ron exited.  
  
“That one's definitely a T.”  
  
“Draco!” Hermione admonished, but the blonde just laughed in response. They stood together and went in search of an empty classroom to practice their spell work. He looked around for Blaise and Pansy but they were either still in the Hall or they had finished earlier than he had and had disappeared to do their own revision. Draco was mildly disappointed, he would have liked to talk to Blaise about his answer for the last question on the paper, Blaise was always more talented at Charms than he was.  
  
“What did you think of-” Hermione chatting in his ear about the counter charm for hiccups distracted him enough from his disappointment and he vowed to find them both after their practical exam later that evening. They had Transfiguration tomorrow and Pansy was always very good at helping him study for that particular subject.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's very difficult to make exams interesting, but we are approaching the end!


	47. Chapter 47

Their next exam was Transfiguration, followed by Herbology on Wednesday, he’d always done well in both of those subjects so they weren’t too much of a concern for him, he was fairly certain that he would get his usual grade in both of them. Thursday was Defence Against the Dark Arts, the exam that Harry was most looking forward to. He flew through the written questions without any issues, and was able to describe the wand movements, effects and counter charms for all the spells on the paper, even the magical theory didn’t stump him. After the exam he waited in the Entrance Hall for his friends, it had become a little routine for them. Wait in the Entrance Hall for everyone to finish, then go practice the practical aspect of the exam before lunch. Even Blaise and Pansy had joined them once or twice.   
  
After lunch they all went into the Great Hall ante-chamber together to wait to be called forward. It was in alphabetical order, so each day Harry encouraged Hermione who was the first of their group to be called in, he pressed an encouraging kiss to Draco’s temple when the call of “ _ Malfoy, Draco _ ” came from the door, and when it was Harry’s turn he clapped a hand on Ron’s shoulder. As a W Ron was one of the last few students left and he would stand silently next to Blaise while trying not to drop his wand from his sweaty palms.  
  
Today was no different, at “ _ Potter, Harry _ ” Harry stood up, patted Ron on the back and made his way towards the door, nodding at the few students left who he had personally taught. He made his way into the Great Hall, passing by Draco who was halfway through his practical assessment and walking to the last free Wizard at the end of the line of examiners. If he had thought the written exam was easy, it was nothing compared to the practical exam. Umbridge sat at the head of the room, watching the students who she had supposedly “taught”. Harry was rather glad she was there, it meant he could perform all the counter-jinxes and defensive spells in front of her with a small hint of glee.   
  
“I have heard from a dear friend Mr Potter that you are able to produce a Patronus? For a bonus point...?”   
  
“Expecto Patronum.” The glee of showing Umbridge up was almost more than he could contain. The silver stag cantered around the Hall for one full lap before dissipating next to Harry with a bow of his antlers.  
  
“Bravo, Mr Potter!” The aged Wizard clapped his hands.  
  
“I’m not the only one Sir, I’ve taught a few students to successfully produce it too.” Harry said with a grin.  
  
“Wonderful Mr Potter, well I think that would be all.” If Harry wasn’t mistaken, and he hoped he wasn’t, he had just received an O.  
  
“How did you do?!” Draco and Hermione half jumped him when he emerged from the exam with a wide grin on his face.  
  
“Pretty sure I just got an O, and a bonus point for a corporeal Patronus.”  
  
“You’re such a show off! That’s not even that amazing now that half the school can do it too!” Draco punched him in the arm, he wouldn’t have said no to a bonus point.  
  
“What?” Harry fended away another punch with a laugh, “He asked!” He grabbed Draco’s wrist and tucked the blonde into his side before he could be punched again.  
  
“We all can do a Patronus, Harry. You’re not that special.” Draco turned his nose up at his Boyfriend, but he still accepted the fond kiss at his temple.  
  
“Wait?” Hermione asked with a small clap of her hands, “You managed to do it?”   
  
“Oh, yes. A couple of weeks ago, didn’t Harry tell you?”   
  
“What was your animal?” She asked eagerly.  
  
“It was an Owl.” Draco alluded. Harry just nudged him in the side but didn’t tell Hermione that Draco’s Patronus just so happened to be the perfect cloned image of his owl Familiar. He was pretty sure that a Patronus was extremely personal to the individual and he didn’t want to embarrass Draco in front of half of their year.  
  
“Draco and I were just saying that we might go revise Ancient Runes together for tomorrow.”  
  
“You guys go, Ron and I were going to take the evening off.”  
  
“You need to study Potions.” Draco reminded him.  
  
“I know, I know. We’ve got Friday and the whole weekend.” He shared a quick kiss with Draco before the two of them disappeared off to the Library. Harry made his way up to the Gryffindor common room. He had told Ron that he would collect their brooms and meet him in the Entrance Hall after he finished.  
  
Finishing the Defence exam on such a positive was enough of a high to see him through to Sunday night. Where he was once again sat in the Library revising for their Potions exam. Draco was the biggest help, every now and then he would slide old exam questions over for Harry to try and answer. It wasn't a bad revision tactic actually, Harry had already managed to learn a few things that hadn't sunk in before, and Draco was more than happy to talk him through the questions he was getting stuck on. So on Monday morning he entered the exam hall feeling far more confident than he would have done if Draco hadn’t just spent two full days helping him revise. Even the practical assessment in the evening had been significantly less stressful than he had expected.  
  
After Potions the rest of the week flew by. Harry’s whole world had narrowed down to exam after exam after exam, with a healthy dose of Draco passing out in his bed every night to help fend off his anxiety induced insomnia. Care of Magical Creatures had been a doddle, and Astronomy he was sure he had done well enough to pass. Divination on the other hand he definitely expected to fail, he couldn’t read anything in the examiners tea leaves and staring into the crystal ball just seemed to reflect his own glasses and the cloudy sky above their heads. Which brought them all to their last exam of the year. History of Magic. To say that he was mildly stressed about it was an understatement. He could hardly concentrate throughout Thursday, when he and Ron had the day off and Draco and Hermione were in their Arithmancy exam. The sun had decided to grace the halls of Hogwarts and he was lamenting at the fact that he had to spend so much time indoors and studying and no time at all out in the rare heat. He watched the younger years messing about at the edge of the lake and he wished with all his might that he could be down there with them.  
  
“Harry!” He flinched as someone directed a flick to the back of his head.  
  
“Fucking ow!”  
  
“Oh deal with it, how are you getting on?” Draco asked as he slid into the empty chair next to him in the far corner of the library.  
  
“I hate History of Magic.” He answered.  
  
“Budge up, we can go through this together.” He shuffled his chair closer to Harry’s so that he could lean into his side and read the book through with him.   
  
Harry wished he could say that the revision with Draco had been as useful as it had with Potions. But the names and dates of reforms, alliances and rebellions just seemed to slip through his fingers every time he tried to recall them. Which is how he found himself, sitting in the middle of his History of Magic OWL exam and staring listlessly at the question page in front of him, with a completely blank memory. The heat made him sluggish. As did the distinct lack of sleep and the tossing and turning at night that had Draco pinning him down as the little spoon and forcing him to be still.   
  
Wand legislation? Goblin riots? He skipped a couple of questions, hoping that something later in the booklet would spark some sort of memory. The Warlocks of Liechtenstein … he knew something about this. He had read this last night. But what … The International Confederation of Wizards was formed and Liechtenstein didn’t want to join because  
  
It was on the tip of his tongue. He knew this.  Because of … something to do with trolls. He was sure it had something to do with trolls.  
  
Pavarti was sitting in front of him, and her braid was swinging to and fro hypnotically. Harry found himself staring at the shiny gold hair tie that she had fixed to the bottom of it. If he stared at it long enough, and let his vision blur slightly it looked slightly like a Snitch, swaying in front of him, just asking to be caught.   
  
He squeezed his eyes closed. Trying to remember. Trolls. They were having a problem with a tribe of Mountain Trolls and didn’t want to give them rights, he suddenly remembered. He wrote what he could remember but stared down at his answer glumly. There had to be more to it than that? Draco’s notes had filled at least two rolls of parchment. He closed his eyes again and tried to picture the parchment in front of him, trying to remember exactly what was on the page. He could hear everyone’s quills scratching frantically at their answer papers. He could feel the heat seeping through his robes and warming him nicely. Behind his closed eyelids he could see a little Golden Snitch hovering in front of him, swaying backwards and forwards…  
  
_ He could see a long dark corridor. He could feel himself striding through darkened doorways that slammed shut behind him. He was rushing down a long aisle surrounded by thousands of glowing white orbs which were stacked high on endless racks of shelves that disappeared into the distance. And then ropes were flying out of the end of his wand, wrapping around a figure who was creeping around in the dark. The light that hung from the end of his wand alighted on a face that Harry knew quite well, Sirius Black. He cast a Crucio using the full extent of his power, aiming it at the struggling Wizard who was trying and failing to fight off the Incarcerous. He was screaming out from the pain and writhing about on the dusty floor, when the curse lifted his limbs trembled from his frayed nerve endings. He cackled in pleasure and cast again and again. He wanted it. He needed it. And Black would get it for him.  
  
_ Harry felt his skull hit the stone floor. The throbbing pain of the side of his head was drowned out by the searing pain in his scar. Someone had yelled out into the strained silence of the Great Hall and it took him a moment to realise it had been him. It was his voice that echoed between the exposed rafters. He could barely lift his head up from the duel pain but he felt his arm being taken by one of the Wizards, the one who had given him his Defence exam, and he was being helped to his feet and led outside. He looked around just in time to see Draco half rising from his seat, his eyes wide and worried, and Hermione who had gone pale at seeing him in such a state.  
  
“I know Mr Potter, so much pressure these examinations cause. Can I get you a glass of water? I can give you a few minutes to cool down and then you can rejoin your peers, I’m sure you’ll want to finish your last answer before the timer runs out.”  
  
“Thank you sir, but no. I’m fine thanks. I’m done.”  
  
“Very well, I shall collect your paper. Do go and have a lie down now, won’t you?”  
  
“Yes, yes Sir.” And the old Wizard patted him on the hand before turning and re-entering the Great Hall.   
  
Harry turned on his heel and began to sprint up the stairs. Pain or no pain he needed to talk to Dumbledore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are about to get exciting :)


	48. Chapter 48

Harry slid into the corridor that led to the hidden entrance of Dumbledore’s office and almost tripped over his feet as he ran up to the Gargoyle. He stopped in front of the statue panting and sweaty from his sprint through the hot castle and out of breath from the seven sets of stairs he had just run up. It was only when he was standing in front of the entrance that he realised he had no idea what the password was.  
  
“Sherbet lemons.” The gargoyle didn’t move, “Cockroach clusters.” Still no movement, “Ice mice.” Nothing. Harry scrubbed his hands across his face in frustration.  
  
“Potter!”   
  
Fuck, not now, damn it. Umbridge was striding down the corridor towards him, waddling slightly on her pink heels, she was backed by half the Inquisitorial Squad. Montague and Pucey flanked her and they drew their wands with twin smirks.  
  
“What business do you have with the Headmaster?” She questioned, eyeing him and the gargoyle with distrust, “A secret meeting perhaps?”  
  
“No, Professor.”  
  
“Liar!” She shrilled, “Fortunately, the Headmaster is not currently in the castle. Take him down to my office.”  
  
“But I need to-” Harry was cut off as Montague pressed his wand into his neck and disarmed him with no small amount of glee. Harry looked back at the gargoyle desperately, begging Dumbledore to suddenly appear from behind it. Montague grabbed him by the arm and dragged him along the corridor and down the stairs, Harry tried to pull his arm away but the Slytherin's grip just tightened each time he tried until he was sure there would be a very significant ring of bruises around his bicep.  
  
“Harry!” Hermione and Ron were running up the stairs towards him and Umbridge, the exam must have finished.  
  
“Bring them too!” Pucey grabbed Ron and a Sixth year girl caught Hermione. Harry winced but he was glad that Draco hadn’t come too, he was surprised given his display in the Great Hall, but he was glad. Nothing good would come to him from being caught outside Dumbledore's office, but Harry didn’t even want to know what would happen to Draco if he was practically delivered into the Slytherin’s hands. He pulled against the bruising grip once again but it didn’t get him anywhere.  
  
“Hey! Leave them alone!” Ginny and Luna suddenly appeared as they turned onto the third floor where Umbridge’s office was located. Harry presumed that his breakdown in the Great Hall had spread throughout the gossip channels by now, and it seemed that Ginny and Luna had come to find him to ask him about it personally. He appreciated that, Merlin knows you couldn't trust the gossipers to get the story right.  
  
“Nasty little troublemakers. You’ll all be expelled.” Umbridge’s eyes were wild and she was bordering on fanatical as Crabbe, Goyle and Millicent Bulstrode appeared behind the two girls and forced them forward and into Umbridge’s office along with the rest of them. Harry didn’t know what method she was using to call all of the Inquisitorial Squad to her office but it was as effective as Hermione’s DA coins. Before he could complain or struggle even more he was being thrown into a chair in front Umbridge’s desk and his friends were being held at wand point behind him. His eyes darted around for some kind of escape. He didn’t have time for this, he needed to tell someone about Sirius.  
  
“Tell me what you wanted with Dumbledore, Potter!” Umbridge hovered over him, wand in hand, and eyes sparking maniacally. Harry didn’t answer. She darted forward, faster than Harry thought she could possibly move, and grabbed a handful of his hair. She forced his head back and his skull cracked against the bare wood of the high backed chair causing Harry’s head to spin and his eyes to dance for a couple of seconds. She dug her wand into his throat, digging it into the vulnerable flesh over his trachea.  
  
“Miss Bulstrode, fetch Professor Snape if you would, and ask him to bring Veritaserum,” Harry heard Hermione gasp behind him, and a scuffle that made him think Ron had tried and failed to escape from Pucey’s grip, “If you won’t tell me Potter, I will force you to.” She was grinning at him, the wide toothed smile splitting her toad face in two. They sat still for a handful of minutes. Umbridge didn’t move her wand and the deranged smile didn’t budge from her face. Snape strode into the room and sneered at the sight in front of him. Harry realised that he had been so desperate to get to Dumbledore but there was more than one Order member in the castle, and he hoped beyond anything else that Snape would look at him. He was practically shouting in his brain-  
  
**He has Sirius! Voldemort has Sirius!  
  
** But Snape didn’t give him a second glance as he spoke to Umbridge about needing a month to brew more Veritaserum. Small miracles, Harry thought. But all too soon Snape was spinning around, his robe flipping out behind him.  
  
“He has Padfoot! He has Padfoot in the place where it’s hidden!” Harry shouted. He vaguely heard Umbridge asking Snape who Padfoot was, but his ears were full of cotton wool as Snape finally met his eyes. He  _ had  _ to understand. But then he was uttering “I have no idea.” And was striding from the room without a second glance. Harry’s heart dropped to his feet. He knew exactly what Harry was talking about, and Harry briefly wondered if Snape would let Sirius rot, he wondered how much of a grudge Snape still harboured against his school bully. Another scuffle sounded behind Harry in the silence that Snape left behind. The sound of a fist hitting a nose and small groan. Harry was pretty sure that Ron just had his nose broken.   
  
“Very well.” Umbridge said to herself, “Very well. The Minister would forgive me of course. This is a matter of National Security after all.” She stared into Harry’s eyes and Harry wished he could turn away more than anything, “I think, in this situation, a dose of the Cruciatus Curse will loosen your tongue, Potter.”   
  
“That’s illegal!” Came Hermione’s cry from somewhere to the left of him.  
  
“These things must be done, for the greater good.” She nodded to herself, “There are things that the Minister doesn’t need to know.” She pulled away from Harry slightly to stand in front of him with her wand outstretched towards him. Her arm was steady, and Harry realised that she was just as bad as any Death Eater, she would use Crucio on him and she would walk away without a hint of remorse. Harry steeled himself for in inevitable, he had survived a Crucio from Voldemort, he wasn’t afraid of this insignificant Witch.  
  
“Cru-”  
  
“Expulso!” The blue light appeared from out of nowhere, and Umbridge was blasted off her feet. Her head smashed into the stone wall and she crumpled to the ground, dragging the tacky decorative kitten plates down with her. She didn’t move.  
  
“Stupefy! Stupefy!” A string of Stupefy’s came from the same direction, knocking the Slytherins out cold before they could even begin to wonder where the curses were coming from. Harry turned around as Hermione massaged a hand around her throat from where she’d been pinned to the wall. Ron was wincing in pain as he poked at his nose glumly. Ginny was glancing around wildly, trying to find the source of the spells, and Luna was staring at a point to the left of the door with a smile on her face.  
  
Draco threw the invisibility cloak to one side and rushed over to Harry who was still fairly stunned at the sudden power exchange in the room.   
  
“You came?” Harry asked as Draco leaned down over him and cupped his chin, moving his head this way and that to make sure there was no damage.  
  
“Of course I did you idiot. I’ve been looking all over for you. I overheard Millicent and Snape and I followed them up.” He finally leaned down and pressed a desperate kiss to his slack mouth. Harry’s magic curled up to the surface in response to Draco’s, which was firing like a firecracker under his skin. The worry of Harry disappearing, and the rage at finding him seconds away from being Cursed by an Unforgivable, had his core spinning into an almost uncontrollable tornado inside of him.  
  
“I can’t believe she was going to Crucio you.” Hermione said. She was rooting through the pockets of the Slytherin's robes and pulling out various wands which she proceeded to pass around to their owners. Harry finally stood up, his legs were shaky but he didn’t feel the need to sink back down, so he counted that as a win.  
  
“Do you want me to fix that?” He heard Ginny ask Ron, and a quick Episkey later Ron was rubbing at the tenderness around his no longer broken nose.  
  
“What do we do with her?” Harry asked, nodding in Umbridge’s direction.  
  
“Obliviate?” Ron suggested, “If anyone’s good enough to pull that off?” Draco approached her and placed his wand to the side of her head.  
  
“I don’t know how much I’ll erase.” He said.  
  
“She’s a cow, erase it all. Go full Lockhart.” Ginny said, glaring down at the prone pink form. Harry expected Hermione to object but she didn’t move an inch when Draco gritted his teeth and steeled himself.  
  
“Obliviate.”   
  
“Let’s get out of here, I’ll fill you all in.” Harry said as he ushered everyone out of the door, away from the unconscious Umbridge and the knocked out Slytherins.  
  
X  
  
“It’s not possible, Harry.” Hermione said to him from across the empty classroom he had pulled them all into.  
  
“But I saw it!”   
  
“Sirius wouldn’t have left Grimmauld Place.” Ron added, as he sidled up to Hermione’s side to face off with Harry.  
  
“But-”  
  
“This could just be another dream. You don’t know for sure.” Hermione continued, trying to be the voice of reason.  
  
“I’m going.” Hermione exchanged a glance with Ron as Harry’s stubborn streak presented itself once more.  
  
“But-”  
  
“I’m going!” He shouted over her. Entirely unwilling to waste even more time on this useless argument. He knew what he had seen. Sirius was in trouble, it felt exactly the same as it had with Mr Weasley.  
  
“Harry.” Draco said from the side of the room, “You’re shouting at your friends again.” His voice was calm and his expression was neutral, “Perhaps there is another solution? Rather than blasting your way through the Ministry unnecessarily.” Harry huffed and sat down on an old desk with his arms crossed.  
  
“Like what?”  
  
“How about we see if Sirius is home first?”  
  
“I  _ told  _ you-”  
  
“Harry,” Draco’s tone was a warning in itself, “You’ve been having trouble with Occlumency all year. It’s not impossible to assume that you don’t have the most impenetrable mind - not that it’s your fault of course, it is an incredibly difficult skill.” He added, holding his hand up to prevent any arguments.  
  
“How do we get hold of Sirius?” Ginny asked, “Floo?”  
  
“No, the only fireplace that isn’t being watched is Umbridge’s office, and I don’t think we should go back there with all those Slytherins still stunned.” Harry said.  
  
“The mirror.” Draco said. And Harry didn’t know why he hadn’t thought of it before. Of course, he could use the mirror that Sirius had given him over Christmas. He and Draco had been sharing it so that Draco could talk to his Mother, which meant that they needn’t even go all the way up to the Tower because he was pretty sure that Draco had it in his dorm last.   
  
“It’s in my trunk.” Draco said, “If I leave to go get it will you promise me not to do anything stupid, like storming the Ministry, before I get back?”  
  
“Yeah, promise.” Draco offered a small, tight smile before leaving the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry to those of you who thought Dumbledore would be around. But there's 9 chapters left and Dumbledore saving the day was a far too simple ending :)


	49. Chapter 49

“Sirius.” Harry spoke clearly into the mirror, as Ron, Hermione, Draco and Ginny hovered over his shoulders. Luna was sitting to one side, on top of a desk which was tall enough for her to swing her legs back and forth like she didn’t have a care in the world. The mirror shimmered to life and gave them a clear view of half the wall and the ceiling in the kitchen of Grimmauld Place.  
  
“Sirius!” Harry yelled through the mirror, hoping that someone in the house was close enough to pick the mirror up and give him a clear answer, “Sirius! Hello!”  The mirror started moving, the picture in front of them panning from the ceiling and down the length of one wall before whoever had picked it up revealed themselves.  
  
“Kreacher! I need you to get Sirius for me.” It was the aged House-elf who looked back at him.  
  
“Filthy half blood, mudblood lover, not my Master, Kreacher doesn’t have to answer.”  
  
“Kreacher, enough!” Draco ordered. He technically wasn’t the House-elf's Master either but if the Christmas break was any indication, the Elf was more likely to respect him than Harry, “Take the mirror to Sirius at once.”  
  
“Master is not home. Mudblood loving Master left the house.”  
  
“Is anyone else there? Moody? Lupin? Mrs Malfoy?” Harry asked desperately.  
  
“Kreacher is all alone. No one home but Kreacher.”  
  
“Where did he go?” Harry asked.  
  
“Master didn’t say.”  
  
“But you do know Kreacher! Where did Sirius go?”  
  
“Master will not return. Master will never return from the Department of Mysteries.” The Elf cackled in unrestrained glee. Harry’s fingers slackened on the mirror in horror. It fell through his grasp and shattered against the flagstone floor.  
  
“Harry,” Draco said quietly next to him, “If Kreacher is alone… that means … my Mother…” Draco’s hand was wrapped around his elbow, gripping tightly for any ounce of support that he could get. He felt like falling to the ground himself. He had gone through losing his Mother once, he didn’t know if he could go through it all over again. Harry looked over his shoulder at Ron and Hermione, and said, as clearly as he could, with no room for debate-  
  
“I’m going.”   
  
“I’m going too.” Draco said.  
  
“What? No! Absolutely not. I’m not getting you killed too.” Harry objected.  
  
“If my Mother is there then I am going.”  
  
“But… the Oath. I need to protect you, I can’t do that while-”  
  
“Harry. I. Am. Going.” Harry looked at the Slytherin, with his shoulders tensed, his jaw clenched, and a look of pure determination on his face that Harry knew he wouldn’t be able to talk him down from. Harry would never tell him that in this exact moment, Draco looked like as much of a Gryffindor as the rest of them.  
  
“Okay, it’s a hell of a bad idea. But okay.” He took Draco’s hand in his own.  
  
“Bad idea’s seem to be our speciality.”  
  
“Us too.” Ron said for himself and Hermione.  
  
“Guys, look, I appreciate it and everything-”  
  
“Oh, come off it mate. We’ve been following you since First year. It’s not going to stop anytime soon, okay?”   
  
“Don’t forget me.” Ginny pitched in.  
  
“Absolutely not!” Harry replied.   
  
“You’re staying here Gin.” Ron agreed.  
  
“But how are we getting down to London?” Hermione asked.  
  
“We can fly?” Harry suggested, remembering the Order coming to collect him from Privet Drive that summer.   
  
“On… brooms?” Hermione looked a little green.  
  
“No, that’s far too slow.” Draco argued, the possibility of his Mother being in danger had him almost as desperate as Harry to leave the safety of the castle as soon as humanly possible.  
  
“There are other ways to fly.” Luna said from the other side of the room, her legs still swaying backwards and forwards from her perch, “We could use Thestrals, they’re unbelievably fast.” Luna continued.  
  
“But are there four of them?”  
  
“Five!” Ginny argued, crossing her arms across her chest in defiance.  
  
“I believe there are six of us here, are there not?” Luna said with a dreamy smile.  
  
“Listen guys, I can’t let you do this okay. These two have thrown themselves into enough shit with me to know what to expect, and I’ll never be able to talk Draco down. But you two really need to stay here. It’s not child's play.” Ginny glared at him with a look that was reminiscent of Mrs Weasley herself.  
  
Which is how Harry found himself mounted on a Thestral and flying down the length of Scotland and England to reach the centre of London. With five of his friends in tow. Out of the six of them only he, Luna and Draco could see the winged beasts. He could hear Hermione behind him, rattling off a long list of book titles and Authors to herself, so that she would be distracted enough not to open her eyes and look down. Ron and Ginny, who were both as enamoured with flying as he was, were thoroughly enjoying the journey. Whooping every now and then as they passed through a thick fog of cloud.  
  
Landing in London sparked off a hurricane of activity from the group. Harry led them all down to the Ministry Atrium in the Muggle phone booth that he had last been in with Mr Weasley. It was a squeeze for all of them to fit in but he wasn’t complaining when he had Draco completely plastered to his front, and could feel his soft puffs of breath fluttering against his cheek. In any other situation he would have turned his head to the side to catch Draco’s mouth under his own but this was not the time nor the place. Instead, he contented himself with leaning his cheek against Draco’s temple and closing his eyes for the thirty or so seconds that it took the phone booth to descend into the Ministry. He felt Draco’s hand briefly encircle around his wrist in a silent offer of support.   
  
Escaping from the cramped phone box Harry led them at a half run down the Atrium, the halls were silent, the fireplaces were empty, even at night Harry was surprised that there was no one around at all, surely there would be Aurors on duty at the very least? Down the Atrium they went, and into the lift for a minute of strained silence. Where they all breathed deeply and gripped their wands tightly, Harry's spare hand found Draco's and he threaded their fingers together to offer the blonde a quick reassuring squeeze. Then the lift doors were opening to the familiar long corridor that Harry had been dreaming about for the better part of a year. The door they needed was directly in front of them.  
  
The circular room that they entered into was a surprise, Harry didn’t remember seeing this in any of his dreams. He was surrounded by doors, and he had no idea which one was the right one. He didn't notice Draco next to him, examining the room from top to bottom.  
  
“Close the door.” Harry said, and Ginny moved to do just that when Draco caught her arm only inches from the wood.  
  
“Don’t,” He pointed at the seams that ran around the entire room, one at the floor and one at the ceiling, “This whole room is designed to spin, I've heard about it before. My guess is that it can’t move if there’s a door open. We need to know how to get out.” Harry nodded.  
  
“Where to now Harry?” Hermione asked.  
  
“The room we need kind of glitters. Try a few doors, I’ll know it when I see it.” They pulled open a few doors, leaving them wide open to prevent the room from spinning on them and confusing them even more. The glittering room turned out to be full of clocks, of all types and sizes, glittering gold from every direction.  
  
“The time room.” Draco murmured, “I’ve heard rumours…” He trailed off as he followed Harry through the room, staring in fascination at the large bell jar in the middle of the room, but still he didn’t stop moving. They made their way quietly through the Time Room and out to the other side. This was definitely where Sirius had been. The rows of shelves stretched into the distance, full of dusty orbs that glowed slightly in the dull lighting.  
  
“What are these?” Ginny asked, her voice barely above a whisper, as though afraid to break through the silence.  
  
“Prophecies.” Luna answered.  
  
“Row 97,” Harry hissed to the group, “This way, keep your wands out.”   
  
Row 70.  
  
Row 80.  
  
Harry felt like he should have been able to see something in the distance.  
  
Row 90.  
  
Only seven more to go. Sirius could be anywhere in their vicinity. He could be dead already. Harry couldn’t hear anything, if he was still being tortured there would be no doubt that he would have been making noises. Harry started peering down each row as they passed, expecting to see Sirius’s dead body the closer they got to row 97.  
  
95.  
  
96.  
  
97.  
  
Here.  
  
“He should be here.” Harry whispered. He darted forward to look down the aisles on either side of them. But there was no prone form on the floor. There was no Voldemort. There was nothing. Just shelves upon shelves and orbs upon orbs, “I don’t understand. I  _ saw  _ it.”   
  
“Harry,” Draco caught his hand, “There’s no one here.” Harry turned to look at him in despair.  
  
“But I saw…”  
  
“I know, but it must have been something else, Darling.” Draco ran a hand down his arm in an effort to sooth him. Draco finally let the weight of what they had just done fall onto his shoulders. They had left Hogwarts. They had broken into the Department of Mysteries. They would definitely be getting arrested. Especially Harry. He could just see the headlines,  _ Potty Potter breaks into the Ministry of Magic - Azkaban sentence to follow _ .  
  
“Mate.” Ron’s voice broke through the silence that had fallen between them, “Have you seen this?”  
  
“What? Is it Sirius?”  
  
“No, look.” Ron was leaning close to one of the shelves and was pointing at a small glass orb that was glowing dimly under a thick cover of dust, “This one’s got your name on it.” Draco’s head snapped to the side.  
  
“There’s a prophecy about you?” Draco asked.  
  
“Don’t touch it Ron,” Luna said, her voice had hardly changed from that dreamy tone but the warning was clear, “Only Harry can touch it.”  
  
“No, don’t.” Hermione said from behind him.  
  
“I agree with Hermione, that doesn’t sound like a good idea. Let’s just get out of here.” Ginny said, walking forward and tugging on her brother's sleeve.  
  
But Harry didn’t listen. This thing … this  _ Prophecy  _ … had his name on it. That meant that he had a right to know what it was, and Luna had said he could touch it. Luna, who seemed to know exactly what these things were and who wasn’t flinching in concern the closer he got to the orb. His hand closed around it. It was warm. And it fit perfectly into his palm. He was reminded suddenly of the Memory Orb that Draco had given him for Christmas.   
  
“Very good, Potter.” The voice came out of the darkness ahead of them, “Now hand it to me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so excited for you all to read the next few chapters, I honestly impressed myself. I re-read them and I can't even believe that I wrote them, it just feels like I'm reading someone else's Fic hahaha


	50. Chapter 50

Harry felt Draco pressing closer behind him. He could feel the heat of Draco's torso through his jumper and his breath fanning against the back of his neck. Harry figured that he was probably trying to hide himself as much as he could, but even though Harry was a couple of inches taller than him he was no way big enough to hide an entire person. Harry felt his small group of friends huddle in tighter, pressing Draco into the middle as much as possible, as though they understood how hard it would be for him to face off against the very people he had turned his back on. How hard it would be to come face to face with his own Father.  
  
“To me, Potter.” Lucius Malfoy snapped, his hand outstretched and his eyes fixed intently on the glowing sphere in Harry’s clenched hand.  
  
Harry glanced to the left and then to the right, dark hooded figures, with their faces covered in skull masks were closing in on them. Blocking off every exit and forcing them into an even tighter huddle. Hermione was at his right, wand raised and a look of determination in her eyes, Ron was at his left, his grip on his wand was white knuckled but he stared down the Death Eater in front of him with no small amount of courage. He could imagine Ginny at his back, fierce and steadfast, with Luna next to her. He did this. He brought his friends here. He’s the one who signed their death warrants.   
  
And Draco. Lovely, wonderful, smart, Draco. Who must have known exactly who he would face in the Ministry. Must have known that he would be siding with Harry and facing down his Father. Harry felt the Oath between them flare to life, the ache in his chest throbbed to the beat of his heart, telling him that Draco was in danger and pushing him to protect the blonde with anything and everything he had.  
  
“I don’t think so.” Harry answered finally, not seeing any way out and deciding to go with a stalling tactic, in the hopes that the Death Eaters would break ranks and give them a way out.   
  
“Likkle baby Potter.” Came the maniacal cackle from behind Malfoy Senior. The Witch stepped out of the darkness slowly. Weaving to and fro in front of them, as though she were a snake sizing up her prey. Bellatrix Lestrange. Harry recognised her from the Black family tapestry and the front page of the Prophet from the mass Azkaban breakout. Her eyes seemed to catch on something behind him, and she threw her head back and cackled at the top of her lungs.  
  
“Baby Potter brought the Baby Malfoy out to play,” She snaked her way closer to them with a deranged look in her eye. She looked… hungry. “And play we shall. Do you see him, Lucius?” She teased, “Look how big he got, big enough to play I think.” She grinned and twirled her wand in her hand.  Lucius’s gaze finally moved from the orb in Harry’s hand to fixate on his Son over Harry’s shoulder. Harry didn’t dare turn around to see how Draco was doing, instead he shifted to the side slightly to try and block Draco even further from view.  
  
“Not until we have the prophecy Bella.” Lucius spat.  
  
“Just one little Crucio, Lucius? Just a little one for my traitor of a Nephew?” She pouted.  
  
“No, Bella! Potter, the Prophecy!” He stepped closer as his tone became more insistent.  
  
“What’s the big deal with this thing anyway?” Harry asked, playing for time. He threw the glass orb up in the air, to the strangled gasp of the Witch in front of him, and caught it again a second later, “Why does Voldemort want it?” The Death Eaters flinched, and Lucius’s lip curled in disgust. Bellatrix looked outraged but she was silenced by Lucius raising his hand.  
  
“Your precious muggle-loving Headmaster never bothered to tell you why the Dark Lord tried to kill you? The answer is in that Prophecy, Potter.” He sounded a lot calmer than he had a minute ago, his voice taking on some of the charm that Draco had inherited. Charm that Draco would use on him on a regular basis. Harry could see how ministry workers up and down the scale would fall for the tricks of Lucius Malfoy if he spoke to them like that, “Give us the Prophecy, and you will find out exactly why you are The-Boy-Who-Lived.”   
  
Harry hesitated. His fingers tightened on the glass.  
  
“No.” Draco said from behind him, “Harry won’t be handing anything over, and you can’t force him to, or the Prophecy will break and you will have nothing to take back to Voldemort.” Harry was immensely proud that Draco had said Voldemort without an ounce of hesitation or shakiness.  
  
“Potter will die, Draco.” Lucius finally addressed his Son, “He will be dead before long, and then where will your protection be? Do you think Dumbledore will care about you once Potter is gone? Come back to us Draco, if you deliver Potter and the Prophecy to the Dark Lord you will be forgiven.”  
  
“Voldemort doesn’t forgive.” Draco replied with a shake of his head.  
  
Harry heard the whispers behind him, passing through their small group like a perverted game of Chinese whispers. “ _ Aim for the shelves. Break the Prophecies _ .” Harry put his faith in Luna as he raised his wand to Lucius Malfoy. He could feel Draco shifting behind him, taking a more offensive stance even within the tight circle of Harry’s friends.   
  
_ Aim for the shelves, break the Prophecies.  
  
_ Harry narrowed his eyes at Malfoy Senior. His hand groped behind him to clamp on Draco’s available wrist. He wouldn’t let them get split apart amongst the maze of shelves.  
  
In three…Two…One…  
  
“Now! Confringo!” Harry’s spell shot passed Malfoy’s right shoulder to hit the shelf directly behind him. He heard Draco and Luna using Expulso from behind him, Hermione’s Bombarda Maxima, Ginny and Ron’s Reducto. Prophecies began to rain down on the Death Eaters as the shelves began to tip. Lucius and Bellatrix were immediately surrounded by cloudy figures emerging from the orbs, they were all talking at once, so much so that Harry couldn’t distinguish one voice from another.   
  
“Back to the Entrance!” Harry yelled. He turned and ran. Half dragging Draco behind him. A strong Protego from Hermione blocked a blue light heading towards them from the left hand side. She countered with a Stupefy but didn’t bother to turn to see if it had landed on anyone. Draco sent a whip of fire ahead of them, clearing the path of any Death Eaters who stood in their way. Harry was casting Stupefy left and right, protecting their sides as Draco protected their front and Hermione protected their back.  
  
“Stay together! Don’t break away! The door is ahead!” Harry yelled, Ron was pulling Ginny along, his long legs reaching far further than hers did. But the hand on her wrist meant that she didn’t need to concentrate on where she was going, she pointed her wand over her shoulder and hit one of the hooded figures with her speciality bat-bogey curse.   
  
“NOT POTTER! YOU’LL DESTROY THE PROPHECY!” Harry could hear Malfoy roaring behind him as they followed the teenagers at a run, but it seemed that no one was listening to him anymore. Harry ducked under a bright emerald green curse, and barely stopped for breath as he felt the Avada ruffle his hair as it streaked passed him.  They dove through the door that was directly ahead of them, having left it open to stop it from potentially moving or disappearing like the ones in the very first circular room. Hermione slammed it shut behind them and locked it with a strong Colloportus. They took a moment to breathe.  
  
“Everyone okay?” Harry asked, at the nods and sounds of the affirmative Harry turned to Draco, “You with me, Draco?” He cupped the side of Draco’s neck lightly. Every fibre of his being was telling him to pull the Slytherin into a kiss, but for once his brain was leading the party, and he was well aware that this was neither the time nor the place.  
  
“Always.” Draco gasped back, squeezing Harry’s wrist.   
  
“Keep hold of that Prophecy, Harry. No matter what.” Luna said to him, she was staring directly into his eyes and Harry suddenly missed the airy and untroubled girl that she had been before he had dragged them all into the heart of the Ministry, and right into the arms of danger.  
  
“I’m so sorry guys-”  
  
“Not the time, keep moving.” Ron shoved at his and Draco’s shoulders, forcing them to move through the room and back to the circular room they had entered by. A loud BOOM shook the room, as the Death Eaters on the other side started trying to force their way through Hermione’s locking charm. Harry’s footsteps sped up as the room quivered. They dived into the circular room just as the hooded figures broke through the Colloportus. Ginny slammed the door shut behind them.  
  
“No wait!” Draco tried to yell, but the walls had already started to spin around them. The candles and the doors on the walls were nothing but blurs for a few seconds, and when the room stopped spinning Harry had to blink away the flashes of white that seemed to be almost burned onto his retinas.   
  
“Which way do we go?” Hermione cried out. Another shaking BOOM rattled them to the bones, the Death Eaters had made it to the next door.  
  
Harry darted forward to the first door and yanked it open. He didn’t recognise the room beyond it but he didn’t care.  
  
“We need to find the way out!” Ron shouted.  
  
“No time! Just run.” He pulled Draco into the room behind him and waited for the rest of them to follow. Hermione shot a glance over her shoulder as another BOOM wracked through the room.   
  
“Come on!” Ginny grabbed Luna’s hand and ran through the doorway. Or tried to. The moment she became level with the door frame she was bounced back, repelled by some invisible shield.  
  
“What?” Harry asked, Hermione tried to walk forward but she too was repelled.  
  
“Try another door.” Ron said, pulling open the next one.  
  
BOOM.  
  
Harry went to join his friends back in the Entrance chamber but both he and Draco were forced back into the room.  
  
BOOM.  
  
“We don’t have time for this shit!” Draco exclaimed from in front of the doorway.  
  
BOOM.  
  
“You guys get yourselves out,” Harry urged, “We’ll be okay. Just stick together. Get hold of the Order when you get out.” Hermione nodded and with one final glance at the couple who were stuck in the room she was darting to the next door and leaving the chamber. Harry slammed the door shut just as one final BOOM exploded the door inwards and the Death Eaters piled into the circular room, led by Lucius Malfoy.  
  
“Try every door. They can’t have gotten very far.”  Harry and Draco looked at each other as the door handle started to shake. But the door didn’t budge.  
  
“You won’t be able to get into that one,” Someone said, “It’s sealed shut. There’s no way they’ve managed to get through the enchantments.”   
  
Harry looked at Draco with his brow drawn low. He had managed to open the door no problem, and why had no one else been able to get into the room?  
  
“I think we’re okay for a minute.” Harry murmured, “Do you see a way out?”  
  
He finally turned around to look at the room they had somehow managed to enter. A great golden fountain stood in the middle, spouting off water that had a strange pearlescent sheen. The fountain was surrounded by desks covered in parchment and a huge glass case on the opposite side of the room held hundreds of single dose vials, full of some sort of red potion.  
  
“We’re in the Love Room.” Draco was staring at the fountain, awe in his voice.  
  
“The what?”  
  
“I thought it was only a myth. They study the power of Love, or I’ve been told they do. No one really knows.”  
  
“What makes you think this is a Love room?” All Harry saw was a bloody great big gaudy fountain that probably wouldn’t look amiss in the Malfoy estate if he was honest.  
  
“That’s Amortentia.” Draco nodded towards the liquid coming out of the fountain. Harry leaned slightly closer. Now that Draco had pointed it out, the potion that Harry had previously thought to be water was far too pearlescent for it to be a trick of the light, and thin curls of steam hovered over the surface of the liquid, “It’s the most powerful love potion in existence, it doesn’t form true love of course, nothing can do that, it just creates an obsession. But it’s so like Love that it’s probably the easiest way for them to study it.” Harry moved closer still. He could smell something.  
  
“What do you smell?” Draco asked, out of curiosity.  
  
“Treacle tart,” Harry sniffed again, “Broom polish.” And one final sniff had his memory reeling back to Draco’s sweat slicked skin sliding across his own, his nose buried in Draco’s long pale neck, “You. It smells like you.” Harry looked up at him in shock, “The hell?”  
  
“Amortentia smells like the things that you love the most.” Draco told him, with a small self-satisfied smile playing on his lips. Harry took half a step closer, the smell was filling his mind with images of Draco in the midst of sex. That scent alone was fulfilling everything he ever thought he wanted or needed. Draco caught him by the forearm and dragged him back a couple of steps.  
  
“Best not to get too close. We don’t want it splashing you.” Draco motioned to the jets that were constantly pumping the potion out of the top of the fountain and Harry nodded in agreement.   
  
“What do you smell?” Harry asked as they began to make their way to the door across the other side of the room, weaving in and out of the desks, careful not to disturb so much as a quill as they walked across the room.  
  
“Books, thunderstorms, and you, of course.”   
  
“Why were we able to get in here, you reckon?” Harry asked, with a backwards glance at the flowing potion.  
  
“I don’t know, Soulmates perhaps?”  
  
Harry was looking behind him, locking eyes with Draco, when he opened the door and stepped through. The floor vanished. Not so much vanished, as it wasn’t there in the first place. Harry found himself bouncing down a series of stone steps, hitting each one on the way down and probably sustaining a full body bruise in the meantime.  
  
“Harry!” Draco shouted from the open doorway above and was quick to climb down onto the top tier of the steps and run down after him.   
  
He was almost at the bottom when something wrapped around his throat and pulled him back, halting him in his steps. His eyes widened as he scrabbled against the Incarcerous that was cutting off his airway, his wand had fallen to the floor when the invisible rope snapped into place around his neck and he stared at it desperately, trying to will it to fly into his hand. Harry was still out of it, the fall down the steps had probably made him dizzy and disorientated and now Draco knew that the pain of the Oath was adding to his current predicament.  
  
“No escaping your Auntie Bella.” Came the cackle from behind him, “What’s a little Crucio between family, hmm Draco?” She tugged on the invisible restraints and Draco was forced to his knees. His eyes were watering now and he was barely able to catch his breath. His wand still lay a few feet out of his reach, but if she was to cast Crucio he could probably force his body to fall in that direction and he could grab it.  
  
“Cru-”  
  
“EVERTE STATUM!”   
  
Bellatrix was blasted away from him instantaneously. The invisible bind fell from his neck and he pulled in great gasps of breath as he turned to whoever had cast the spell. Standing there, dressed in periwinkle blue robes, with blonde hair swept neatly over one shoulder and wand arm outstretched, was Narcissa Malfoy. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everte Statum was the spell Draco used on Harry in the Duelling Club in Chamber of Secrets, it didn't seem like the sort of spell a First/Second year would know so I like the idea of Narcissa teaching him a few tricks. Also, I don't know if you've noticed but almost every spell in this fic is canon, barring only a few, so are the character names, the classroom locations, their timetables, class content and exam content, with only a few deviations. I hope the amount of research I've put into this has paid off :) I'm really proud of it


	51. Chapter 51

“You will not lay a finger on my Son, Sister.” Narcissa spat as she stepped in front of Draco, who was quick to grab his wand from the floor and rise to his feet once again. He made an aborted turn towards Harry, but stayed next to his Mother when he realised that Sirius had appeared and was gripping Harry’s elbow to pull him up off the floor. Harry still held the glass orb tightly in his left hand while his right was fisted around his wand. Draco looked over at his Mother instead, she was the epitome of a Malfoy spouse, elegant, powerful and fiercely intelligent, which made her extremely dangerous to anyone who dared to cross her. His Father might be a blight to the Malfoy name but his Mother was every bit the Pureblood Matriarch she was raised to be.  
  
“Cissa,” Bella was flat on her back, grinning and laughing maniacally, “Having offspring has made you weak.” She sat up slowly, smirking at her Sister from the floor. Narcissa raised her wand once more and began to form a curse but she was cut off by the crack of apparation echoing around the large chamber. Draco looked wildly around the room, Death Eaters were apparating in one after another, appearing in an instant and raising their wands against members of the Order of the Phoenix. Who instantly corralled around Harry and Sirius to defend their greatest asset.  
  
“Draco, go with Harry.” Narcissa said, she didn’t dare take her eyes off the woman on the floor. Draco turned around to see Harry holding his hand out to him, and Sirius guarding the teenager from any oncoming attacks. He glanced at his Mother one last time before he placed his hand in Harry’s and they began a mad dash across the floor towards the exit. They passed the towering arch, skirting around the stone dias on which it stood and tried not to think about the whispers streaming out from behind the ragged veil. Draco noticed a red spell streaming towards them from their left, he deflected it with a quick Protego, the unknown spell bounced off his shield back to it’s caster, who was blasted off his feet. He noticed Harry doing a similar thing to the right of them, deflecting a blue curse at the last second. No one was using the Killing Curse, the Prophecy that Harry held in his hand was much too precious for them to risk should Harry fall and break it. They followed Sirius closely, deflecting as many spells as possible, and ducking around the ones they couldn’t block. They were so close to the exit now, just a few more seconds-  
  
The light blue spell hit Sirius head on. He froze. Literally froze. The sweat on his brow turned to ice, his skin turned a pale blue and his lips purpled as the Glacius spell took effect. Draco knew this spell, and it had disastrous consequences if left for longer than a couple of minutes, but the counter curse was beyond him he’d read about it but he couldn’t quite remember the incantation...  
  
“That’s enough of you Black. Potter, the Prophecy, if you would.” Lucius Malfoy stood in front of them once more, holding his hand out for the orb that Harry was yet to give up.  
  
“Never.” He grabbed Draco’s hand and backed away from the Wizard in front of them. He could hear Draco muttering spells under his breath, with his wand pointed subtly at Sirius.  
  
“Liquescimus.” Whatever Draco was trying to do wasn’t working, Harry pulled him backwards a step at a time, deflecting something white that came from the right of them and something pale green from the left, as they stepped into the path of an ongoing duel.  
  
“Calidum.” Harry turned around desperately, there was another exit at the other side of the stone dais. Only noticeable because Harry had spent the last five years disappearing in and out of hidden doorways.  
  
“Regelo.” Harry looked at the path they would have to take to get to the half hidden door. Order members and Death Eaters were duelling to and fro across the expanse of the whole room. The only safe way was…up. Up and over the stone dais that the archway stood on top of. Harry squeezed Draco’s hand, telling him silently that they were about to make a break for it.  
  
“Calefacto.” Draco could have cheered to himself. Colour began to flood into Sirius’s skin, the frost that covered his robes began to melt and he started to unfreeze. He felt the squeeze from Harry and he collected himself. It wouldn’t do either of them any good to be distracted in this situation, and he had already spent too long trying to break the curse on Sirius. He felt Harry tensing next to him. Felt magic curling under the surface of his skin. He was raising his wand slowly, almost imperceptibly, Draco could only tell because he knew exactly what Harry looked like when he was coiled and ready to strike. Four years of trading insults and spells had given him an insight that no one else had.  
  
“Immobulus.” Harry cast. At the same time as the spell left his mouth he was spinning on his heel and dragging Draco up the side of the stone dais. Using the steps that had been hewn into the ancient stone to scramble to the flat top.  
  
“Incarcerous.” Harry shot over his shoulder, as Malfoy Senior deflected the immobulus. Draco couldn’t bring himself to hex his own Father so he concentrated on the path ahead. He had no idea where Harry was taking them but a “Turba Dividet.” Pushed back the few Death Eaters who were trying to block them from the opposite side. Draco looked around wildly, trying to catch the eye of anyone who could help them. Lupin was in a duel with a Death Eater who was throwing curse after curse without pause, Moody’s spells were holding two cloaked figures at bay, Kingsley and his Cousin Tonks were hewing their way through Voldemort's followers with a fair amount of ease. Everyone was so focused on their own duels that Draco didn’t think they had much hope for help anytime soon. That’s when he saw his Mother, collapsing to the floor in a heap of expensive robes, falling at the feet of her own Sister.   
  
Bellatrix’s cackle of laughter rang out across the whole room. Draco wanted to run to his Mother’s side. He wanted to press her wand back into her hand and will her to wake up. He wanted to be hugged close and kissed on the forehead. He had lived through his Mother dying once before, to live through that feeling again was pure torture. He was grasping onto Harry’s hand like a life line, putting all of his faith in Harry to keep them both protected. He couldn’t even think about raising his wand at this moment in time. His Mother was dead. Again. And it was killing him from the inside out.  
  
“Draco, snap out of it. Come on. I need you.” I need you. Harry needed him. He would live through this because Harry needed him. He would allow himself a breakdown later, right now he needed to help Harry.  
  
Harry blocked a “Relashio” from behind them. But they were quickly becoming overpowered. Harry’s Protego, even at its strongest, would only last against a few spells at a time before he needed to recast it, and the Death Eaters in front of them were throwing spells at them in quick succession. Lucius Malfoy was on the dais behind them now, stalking forward with the cat-like grace that Harry had always associated with Draco, but now he knew that it wasn’t so much a Draco thing, it was a Malfoy thing.  
  
“Draco, give me Potter and the Prophecy and you will be welcomed back.” Draco just shook his head at his Father. But at that moment the Death Eaters who were blocking their way forward stopped throwing curses at Harry’s defences and parted to one side, allowing Bellatrix to walk between them. She stepped up onto the dais with a smirk on her face and hatred in her eyes. Harry caught Draco’s wrist and he began to pull him backwards, away from the arch and closer to the edge of the rock. Bellatrix was in front of them now. Her eyes were mad from insanity.  
  
“Crucio.” She cast. Draco fell to his knees instantly.  
  
Bellatrix laughed.  
  
And laughed.  
  
She held the spell for a few seconds. Delighting in the anguished screams that escaped from Draco’s mouth. Draco fell onto all fours, bracing himself against the ground as much as possible as the curse rushed through his body, lighting every nerve ending on fire as it went. She aimed again.  
  
“Crucio.” She glared at the Malfoy Heir who was squirming on the floor in front of her, “That’s how we treat traitors.” She spat. Lucius didn’t move, but his jaw tightened and his shoulders straightened as he pulled himself up to his full height. That was also something that Draco did, Harry noticed against his will.  
  
“Stop.” Lucius commanded.  
  
“Crucio.” Draco was on his back now, his fingers bit into his palms, leaving behind little half-moons from his fingernails. His muscles were twitching when she finally released the spell for the third time. He gasped for breath and attempted to curl up into a ball.  
  
“Enough, Bella!” Lucius snapped.  
  
“He is a traitor! He deserves this!”  
  
“Draco has a chance at redemption, I have not lost my son to these muggle-loving fools.”  
  
“You have lost me Father. I chose Harry and I will continue to choose Harry.” Draco said with as much conviction as he could muster while his Mother lay dead in the corner of his vision and his nerve endings sent fire through his veins.  
  
“Why, Draco?”  
  
“Harry is my Soulmate, magic itself dictated that we find each other.” Harry held a hand out to him and pulled him quickly to his feet, he wasn't quite ready to be on his feet, the effects of the Cruciatus was still causing his muscles to twitch, but if there was a chance for them to run then they couldn't do that while Draco was on his back on the floor.   
  
“My Son.” Lucius looked at Draco as if he was seeing him for the first time. Seeing him turning from the boy he once knew into the man he was starting to become. He looked between Draco and Harry, and the grip on his wand wavered. His steady aim at the Half-Blood boy quivered as he considered just who this boy was to his son. Bellatrix watched Lucius falter with a critical eye. She sneered at his weakness and took the decision out of his hands. She raised her wand above her head and in one smooth downward arch she aimed her wand at Draco and cursed him with the one spell that would not fail in it’s task.   
  
“Avada Kedavra!”


	52. Chapter 52

Draco fell.   
  
He followed the descent of his Father’s body all the way to the floor, landing on his knees the moment Lucius’s head bounced off the ancient stone.   
  
His father, his cold, unfeeling, Pureblood Father, had stepped in front of the killing curse meant for him. Had sacrificed himself for his one and only Son. A Son who had betrayed him. Draco could barely identify the anguish cries that echoed around the chamber, but he knew they must have been his own. His Mother was dead and his Father was dead, he was...an Orphan. His Father’s long blonde hair fanned out around his head like a halo and he looked peaceful in his final act of redemption. His eyes were wide open and staring lifelessly at the high vaulted ceiling above them, but the usual frown on his mouth had disappeared and the stern look, that Draco had long since become accustomed to had fled from his features. He looked peaceful. In any other circumstance Draco would have insisted that his Father didn’t deserve that peace, but after this one act of pure unselfish love Draco felt that he couldn’t deny him it.  
  
“Your Father was a fool,” Bellatrix hissed at him.   
  
He felt Harry at his back, steadfast and powerful, a force to be reckoned with. His hair was wild. His eyes were bright. He was an immovable force of nature. He was the fire that his magic emulated, and he was turning his wand on Bellatrix to concentrate every ounce of that power solely on her.  
  
“You will not harm him.” Harry said, with one hand clasped tightly onto Draco’s shoulder.  
  
“Who would have thought the Malfoy line would be so easily eradicated.” She grinned at the two teenagers in front of her, “Tell me  _ Lord _ Malfoy,” Draco flinched at the title that she had put onto his shoulders, “When I kill you, who gets your gold?” Her eyes were sparkling with hunger and it wasn’t difficult to read between the lines. The Lestranges had no need of gold, she wanted the power the Malfoy name would give her. She wanted the contacts in the business world that had been accrued through generations of dealings above and below board. Above all she wanted Malfoy Manor and all that it held within, from it’s dark and old magic to the artefacts that were hidden within its very walls.  
  
“Harry Potter will inherit the Malfoy estate.” Draco looked up at her in defiance from his place at his Fathers side, “And he will liquidise everything.” He had told Harry no such thing but the Will that he had written prior to fleeing the Manor over Christmas was absolute and had been notarised by the Goblins themselves. It had taken a lot of fancy clauses to circumvent the Malfoy traditions, but it was done, Harry Potter was his successor.  
  
“How dare you! Avada-”  
  
“Stupefy!” She spun out of the way of Harry's spell just in time, but was ready with another Killing Curse only a second later.  
  
“Avada-”  
  
“Depulso!” The spell hit her hard in the chest and the power behind it blasted her off the dais and onto the stone floor below. She glared at him but before he could raise his wand again she was on her feet and fleeing from the room. She dodged past Order members and Death Eaters alike and with a backwards look and a manic smirk she slipped out of the half hidden doorway that Harry had been leading them towards.  
  
Harry looked down at Draco one last time. He felt the pain thumping in his chest from his Soulmates emotional distress. The death of his parents wasn’t something he could protect Draco from, he wished he could take Draco into his arms and take his pain away. Harry had no doubt that he could do it, but it wasn’t a good idea, if Draco didn’t face these feelings now then they would come back twice as strong at a later date. He couldn’t protect Draco from the pain, but he could protect him from Bellatrix, and their magics were pushing for him to neutralise the threat that she posed.  
  
“Go.” Draco understood, because Draco always understood.  
  
Harry tore through the room after her, he followed her cackling giggles through the rooms they had only glanced at from various open doorways. She gained a significant head start by trapping him in the circular Entrance room, she had slammed the door closed before he could reach the other side and the room had spun around him until he could see flashes of light behind his eyelids and his head was fuzzy from dizziness. By the time he found the right door to exit the Department of Mysteries the lift doors at the other end of the hall were closing behind her, she spared him a grin as the doors closed, her eyes were wide and her teeth were bared as she barely gripped onto the edge of sanity. He wasted no time in sprinting down the long corridor and hammering against the button that called the other lift to him. It arrived promptly and he had to spend the next two minutes stewing in his anger as the lift rose slowly through the floors and up to the Atrium. She was fleeing towards one of the fireplaces when he got there, the Order must have placed anti-apparition wards around the building. But the Atrium was long and flat and Harry could clearly see the target that she presented.  
  
“Stupefy!” His aim was true. Bellatrix keeled over as the curse hit her in the back, the momentum had her tripping forward onto her front and skidding to a halt. Harry approached her slowly, making his way across the Atrium one step at a time. The silence around him echoed his footsteps throughout the entire hall and the sound bounced off the shiny tiled walls and up to the impossibly high ceiling.  
  
It was through that silence that Harry heard it first. The quiet drag of a long cloak gliding over the tiled floor. Approaching him from behind. Harry paused for a moment, he adjusted his hold on his wand. He knew who was behind him. He knew that he would face those red eyes, and pale almost scaly skin. Voldemort had entered the Ministry of Magic.  
  
“Harry Potter. We meet again.”   
  
Harry whirled around on his heel. He somehow knew that Voldemort wouldn’t kill him straight away, he had plenty of time to do it while Harry’s back was turned. He wanted to taunt him, to torture him, to make him feel every ounce of the pain that Harry had caused him over the thirteen years that Voldemort had been without a body.  
  
“Crucio!”  
  
“Expelliarmus!”  
  
Harry hadn’t expected it to happen again.  _ Priori Incantatem _ . The streams of their magic connected between them, linking them once again through the phoenix feather core of their wands. Harry grasped the handle of his wand in both hands, gripping the thin wood so tightly his knuckles were white from the effort. Voldemort was snarling at him as he tried to overpower Harry’s magic. Harry might only be a year older than the last time they had faced but he had matured far beyond his years and so had his magic. The magical residue from their powerful connection was swirling around them unchecked, lifting Harry’s fringe from his forehead and whipping Voldemort's robe about behind him. Harry concentrated on the bead of light that formed between the two spells, and he pushed everything he had through his wand to keep that bead moving steadily towards the tip of Voldemort's wand.  His magic might have matured and grown in the past year, but so had Voldemort's. Last year he was in a new body, still recuperating his magic from years of disuse. But over the past year his strength had regained, his power had solidified and Harry was having trouble holding on.  
  
He heard a voice in his head.  
  
“ _ Use me. I am here. I am always here _ .”   
  
Draco.  
  
_ “I give you everything freely.”  
  
_ Harry caught a glimpse of a head of light blonde hair behind Voldemort. He closed his eyes, and tried to split his attention between the connection to Draco in his core and the connection to Voldemort through his wand. The wisp of wind that swam happily through the fire of his magic was swirling into a frenzy inside of him and he opened himself up to Draco’s magic. They had only done this a few times and rarely had they managed it without being physically connected, but Harry just knew that they could do it.   
  
First there was nothing.  
  
And then there was everything.  


Draco’s magic swirled through him like the winds of a hurricane. Filling him up from the inside out and spreading under his skin. His magical channels were prickling with the extra power that Draco was giving him. And he concentrated all of that power through his wand and into the Priori Incantatem. It was hard to say what Voldemort's expression was, without eyebrows to give away his emotions Harry would have to guess at shock, as the bead of light suddenly jumped down the connection and pressed even closer to the end of his wand.   
  
“You will lose Harry!” Voldemort yelled. He disappeared with a crack of apparition, breaking through the wards without even trying. Harry’s overpowered Expelliarmus slammed into the golden statue with all the force of a Bombarda Maxima, sending chunks of the golden wizard flying across the Atrium. Harry looked around, trying to see where Voldemort was hiding himself. He knew that this was far from over.  
  
“Harry?” Draco was coming into view from out of a doorway where he’d taken cover from the explosion, “Did it work?”  
  
“Yeah.”  
  
“Do you think he-”   
  
Ropes suddenly shot around Draco’s body. Wrapping around his ankles and forcing him to his knees, pinning his arms behind his back at an uncomfortable angle, and then one single rope snaked its way around his neck. It wasn’t squeezing just yet, but Draco had no doubt that it would be soon.  
  
“Draco!” Harry yelled, he tried to dart forward, ready with the counter curse on the tip of his tongue. But Bellatrix appeared in front of Draco with that same manic grin in place as it always was.   
  
“Tut tut, likkle Baby Potter. That wasn’t very nice.” She stabbed her wand into Draco’s throat and the threat alone was enough for Harry to stop in his tracks.  
  
“Don’t you dare hurt him.” Harry said. The Oath flared to life and Harry wished more than ever that they had looked into the Oath more, that they had at least tried to break it. Because right now, it was extremely inconvenient. His chest was burning and Harry really didn’t need an Oath to tell him that Draco was in imminent danger.   
  
“You are a fool.” It came from Draco’s mouth, but Harry knew they weren’t Draco's words.   
  
Harry suddenly knew where Voldemort had disappeared to. 


	53. Chapter 53

“You are a fool Harry.” Voldemort said, and Harry’s jaw clenched at the way Draco’s usual silky voice was twisted into something almost unrecognisable, “Give me the Prophecy and the young Malfoy will be free.” He was lying of course, Harry wouldn’t be surprised if Voldemort's definition of free was death, in which case Draco was damned if he did and damned if he didn’t.  
  
Harry pulled the delicate glass ball out of his pocket and stared down into its swirling depths as it glowed warmly in the palm of his hand. He had promised to protect Draco. A promise that had sunk so deep into his magical core that the magics themselves had bound him to it. He would have given anything for Draco to be safe. But so many people had risked their lives to protect this small orb and Dumbledore had considered it important enough to focus all of the Order’s energies on keeping it safe. He felt like this was a decision he wasn’t qualified to make.  
  
“Give me the Prophecy.”   
  
Draco felt his arms being released from the ropes that had him pinned down and his arm was being raised against his will. He was holding his hand out for the Prophecy, and he heard the words leave his mouth before they had even passed through his mind. He could feel Voldemort walking through his memories, rifling through every important moment of his life. He couldn’t blame Harry for not being able to block his mind against the Dark Lord when even his shields had been completely ripped to shreds within seconds.  
  
_ “I see how you were sucked in, Draco.” _ Voldemort said to him,  _ “With promises that Harry Potter and Albus Dumbledore could not possibly keep. _ ” The voice echoed around his mind.  
  
-  
  
_ There Potter was, the Firebolt between his legs was almost like an extension of himself. He turned to Draco and grinned widely, it was an expression that Draco had never received from him before and Draco couldn’t deny the heat that was coiling in his stomach at the warm expression. He looked down at the tiny golden ball in his hand, there was mud caked under his fingernails and around his knuckles and the shiny gold was tarnished by the dirt smeared across the surface, but he still held it tightly even when the frail wings beat uselessly against his hand. It hadn’t been the first time he'd caught the snitch of course, he never had much of a problem beating the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff Seeker but this was the first time he’d caught it before Potter.   
  
_ _ Potter looked impressed, he was finally looking at Draco with the respect that he had always demanded. But it wasn’t because of his name, it was because of his talent. He realised in that moment that respect was only worth having when it was earned, and earning the respect of Harry Potter, for some reason, was the most important thing he had ever done.  
  
_ _ “How touching.” Draco looked away from the tiny ball in his hand and stared at the tall robed figure who had appeared on the Quidditch pitch below him.  
  
_ _ “You’re a joke Malfoy!” Came the venomous shout from across the pitch, drawing his attention away from the robed figure, “You can’t beat me in a match, what makes you think you can beat me now. Just fuck off back to your slimy Common room and leave me the fuck alone for once.” Draco let the ball go, it darted away across the pitch and out of sight.  
  
_ _ “Wait - No-” Draco stuttered.  
  
_ _ “You heard me Malfoy. Fuck off, there’s no one here to back you up this time.”  
  
_ _ “But-” Harry turned to him with a glare.  
  
_ _ “You’re not wanted here.”  
  
_ _ “This isn’t what happened!” He shouted to the rapidly disappearing memory, “That didn’t happen!”  
  
_ -  
  
_ He was standing in an alcove with Harry in front of him, the words ‘I must not tell lies’ were etched into his skin like someone had taken a knife to the back of his hand. Draco felt the hate for his Professor brewing up inside of him, he couldn’t believe that she would do this to a Student, but the evidence was in front of him. And Harry looked like he was in pain, his face was pale and clammy, his bottom lip was red raw, no doubt from biting into it, and his eyes were dull, like the life had been trodden out of him. Draco wanted so much for those eyes to shine with mischief once again. He was fast becoming addicted to the soft smiles and bright knowing looks that Harry shot at him throughout their lessons and as they passed in the corridors. Bumping into Harry was becoming the highlight of his day. He felt Harry’s other hand cup his cheek. He loved how his fingers were calloused from holding a quill for years, and how rough his palm was from handling a broom. There was something so distinctly Harry about those rough hands.  
  
_ _ “You like me.” Harry teased. Draco blushed against his will, “You actually like me?” Harry’s tone turned dark and sinister and the hand dropped from his cheek as Harry took a step back, “That’s fucking disgusting Malfoy.”  
  
_ _ It didn’t happen this way.  
  
_ _ “Get the fuck away from me, you’re such a Freak.”  
  
_ _ No. It wasn’t like this, Harry would never call anyone a Freak, he hated that word.  
  
_ _ -  
  
_ _ Harry was sitting in a chair in front of the dining table in Grimmauld Place, Draco was half draped over his lap. He had been pensive and thoughtful when Draco had entered the room, maybe even a little melancholy. Draco liked to think that he had successfully pulled Harry out of his little slump. Harry had asked him why Draco wanted to be with him, and Draco found that it was a question that he could have spent hours answering and still be nowhere near the answer. Because Harry was everything, he was happiness, and he was light. He was power and he was humility. He was respected and he was respectful. He was Harry. And Draco loved everything that he was and everything that he had the potential to become.  
  
_ _ “Let’s have sex.” Draco said. Harry pulled back from him and laughed. It was a cruel and taunting sound that didn’t sound right coming out of Harry’s mouth.  
  
_ _ “You think I’m going to have sex with you? Seriously? You’re fucking demented Malfoy. Get the fuck away from me.” Draco found himself being pushed back against the table as Harry kicked the chair out behind him to get away from Draco’s touch as fast as he could.  
  
_ _ But he didn’t. Draco argued with himself. He took you to bed. He made love to you.   
  
_ _ This isn’t Harry. Harry wouldn’t.  
  
_ _ -  
  
_ _ “Get out of my head.” _ He tried to build his shields back up, he tried to push Voldemort out but all he got was an echo of sinister laughter for his efforts.  
  
“You will lose everything, Harry.” Draco could feel his voice being taken over again now that Voldemort had finished playing with his memories, “Unless you give me that Prophecy.” Draco wanted to shout to Harry, to tell him not to give it up, to tell him that he wasn’t worth it. But that sinister laugh, that once again echoed throughout his mind, was the only response to his mental screaming.  
  
“You will kill him and me the moment I give you this.”   
  
_ “Draco.”  _ His name was no more than a whisper, drifting to him from the depths of his mind, “ _ Draco _ .” He turned away from Voldemort’s presence and followed the voice. He couldn’t hear the words that were being spoken from his own mouth, and he had no power over his hand which was still outstretched for the Prophecy. He was still bound by the ankles and pinned to the floor by the rope around his neck, with Bellatrix in complete control of the ropes from behind him. But none of that was important to him. That voice was important.  
  
“ _ I am here.”  _ Came the voice. Draco tracked it to the small spark of fire that burned deep in the core of his magic.  _ Harry _ . Harry would always be with him.  
  
“ _ I give you everything.”  _ It was the same phrase that Draco had said when he had channelled his magic through to Harry. But Harry couldn’t mean to do the same, he knew that Draco couldn’t hold his power.  
  
_ “I can’t Harry. _ ”  
  
“ _ You can. Force him out, my Darling.”  _ Draco wanted to argue but Harry’s power was already flooding through him. His nerve endings were singing with pleasure as the fire spread through his veins. All at once it was too much and yet not enough. It was as addictive as the first time. But the first time Draco had only taken a small amount of Harry’s magic, whereas now, Harry was siphoning every ounce of magic into him. His core was a swirling tornado of fire, increasing in intensity and power with every second that Harry held their connection open. Harry really was giving him everything.  
  
“What is this?!” Voldemort was shouting, both in his mind and out loud.  
  
“The greatest power I have against you, Tom.” Harry was smirking, even though he was collapsing onto his knees from the strain of keeping their connection open and the strain of flooding Draco with his magic.  
  
“ _ Harry, I can’t _ .” Draco begged.  
  
_ “You are half of me and I am half of you. It isn’t my magic and your magic anymore, it’s only our magic. We were created to do this, Draco.”  _ He didn’t know where that realisation had come from but it felt so right. This is what their magics had wanted from the very beginning.  
  
“You have no power against me.” Voldemort yelled.  
  
“ _ I love you, Draco. I love you now. I love you always.”  _ Harry’s voice was drowning out Voldemort.  
  
“ _ I love you.”  _ Draco replied, Harry’s magic was coursing through him. It was too much, it was always too much. He felt fit to burst. He tried to clench his eyes shut, tried to fist his hands in his robes, tried to hold it all in. But he had no control over his body. Voldemort was still in his mind, still controlling his every movement.  
  
“Never underestimate the power of Love, Tom. You taught me that.”  
  
“Love! Ha.” The words were spat like acid from Draco’s mouth, “Such a ridiculous notion. Love does not exist, only power exists and those with enough sense to seek it.”  
  
“You are wrong. You have always been wrong.”  
  
“ _ Let it go, Draco.”   
  
_ _ “It will destroy everything.”  
  
_ _ “Trust me, my Darling.”  _ Draco looked into Harry’s eyes. They were eye level with each other now, both on their knees, facing one another across the many feet of green tile and chunks of golden stone. It reminded Draco of all the times they had done this. Their first session with Hermione where Draco had almost blinded everyone with a Lumos as bright as the sun. Their Occlumency practices where they sat across from one another and meditated. Harry was with him then and Harry was with him now, as he always was and always would be.  
  
It wasn’t Draco’s power and Harry’s power.  
  
It was their power.  
  
“ _ Let go my love _ ,” Draco locked eyes with Harry, “ _ Trust me _ .”  
  
Draco trusted Harry with every fibre of his being. He trusted him with his life, with his soul. So Draco took a deep breath, and at Harry’s imploring expression he did the only thing that made sense to him.   
  
He let go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last cliffhanger of the fic! I promise :)


	54. Chapter 54

He was dead.  He had to be dead. He was hovering on a cloud and surrounded by glowing light. He felt no pain from his no doubt broken body and his mind was hazy and free from it’s usual worries. He felt light and calm. But there was something hovering in the back of his mind. A frisson of consciousness that didn’t quite seem like his own.  
  
A stream of voices made his ears twitch and his jaw clench.  
  
“- quiet. You’ll wake him up.”   
  
Ah. So. Not dead. The voices quietened down to murmurs before eventually leaving through the door of the...A subtle sniff to confirm…Hospital wing. Only a Hospital had that combined scent of multiple disinfectant charms layered with the smell of healing potions and ingredients. He felt his hand being lifted from the bed, and he felt his fingers being cradled ever so gently between two rough palms. He felt the soft press of lips against his knuckles and the sigh of a released breath against his wrist. He didn’t want to pull away from this barely conscious state that he found himself in, the bed was far too welcoming and the light was casting a warmth against his face that he didn’t want to turn away from. But his fingers twitched against his will.  
  
“Draco?” His name was barely a whisper. But it was a whisper from Harry, and that alone was enough for him to open his eyes, “Hey there.” Harry’s smile more than made up for his unfortunate return to reality.  
  
“Hey.” Draco winced at his scratchy voice.  
  
“Water?” Harry asked, he nodded and tried to sit up but his arms shook under the weight of his body, “Take it easy. You’ve got a lot of potions in your system right now.” Harry helped him sit up and fluffed the pillows behind his back so he wasn’t resting against the metal bars of the bed frame.  
  
“Potions?” He took the glass of water with a shaky hand.  
  
“Most are to help with the pain.”  
  
“But I’m not in pain.”  
  
“Then the potions are working.” Harry smiled and reached forward to tuck Draco's hair behind his ear.  
  
“What’s all this?” He finally looked around at the table next to him that was laden down with get well soon cards, gift baskets of chocolates and cheesy edible arrangements.  
  
“Tokens of gratitude. People totally love you now.” Harry grinned and plucked a chocolate frog from a basket that must have contained at least twenty of the little buggers.  
  
“What happened?”   
  
“How much do you remember?” Harry swallowed the head of the frog he had just bitten into and placed the rest down on Draco’s bedside table, which told Draco that this was about to be a rather serious conversation. He half wished he could shut his eyes again and ignore everything for a little while longer. There was still that little niggle at the back of his mind that he had expected to disappear when he opened his eyes.  
  
“You gave me a lot of magic and then I don’t know what happened after that. I don’t even know what you wanted to happen.”  
  
“Everything kind of … exploded after that.” Harry backtracked so he could try and explain his reasoning, “Dumbledore once told me that I had something that Voldemort didn’t.”  
  
“Love?” He vaguely remembered that conversation between Harry and Voldemort.  
  
“Exactly, and I pretty much figured that I’ve never had as much love in my life as I have right now. If anything was going to defeat Voldemort it was going to be our Soulmate connection.”  
  
“We defeated Voldemort? He’s gone?” Draco asked quickly.  
  
“Not quite… When you let go of the magic it kind of exploded out of you. You managed to blast him out of your mind. And you managed to turn that awful statue to dust in the process. No big loss there.”  
  
“Harry, stay on point.” He snapped, he was tired and frustrated and Harry was edging around the subject.  
  
“Right, erm. So you blasted him out of your mind, and that’s when Dumbledore turned up, along with the Minister and the Aurors. I reckon Voldemort realised he couldn’t fight everyone at once, the Ministry, Dumbledore and the Order, so he disapparated out of there pretty quickly.”  
  
“So, he’s not dead?” Draco frowned.   
  
“No, but neither are we, and we should thank Merlin for small miracles.” Harry picked his hand up once more and kissed his knuckles.  
  
“Who did we lose?” He finally asked after a few seconds. Harry didn’t answer straight away. He stared down at their joined hands instead and decided to rest his mouth against the back of Draco’s hand. Then Draco remembered, his Father lying motionless on the dark slab of stone, his hair a white halo around his head, and his wand clattering to the ground as it fell out of his lifeless grip.  
  
“My Father.” Draco felt almost hollow inside. There was no love lost between him and his Father, he had said his goodbyes to any connection between them when he turned his back on Voldemort. But the man had raised him for fifteen years, and at one time Draco did look up to him like a hero, before that notion was nipped in the bud at the sight of his Father on his knees before a megalomaniac. He half expected to feel more, especially when he had sacrificed himself to save him.  
  
Harry nodded sagely, barely pulling his mouth away from Draco’s skin.  Another memory hit Draco in that moment. His Mother. Lying on the ground in those blue robes that Draco had complimented so much when she had first brought them home last summer. The pin in her hair must have come loose because her usual coiffed up-do was tumbling down the side of her face and across her shoulder. His Mother would have been insulted at the thought of dying in any way that wasn’t completely lady like.  
  
“And my Mother.” Draco continued. His eyes closed against his will. He might not have had a connection to his Father, but he loved his Mother fiercely. The choked sobs were starting to rise up in the back of his throat, the tears were starting to well up in his eyes. He had thought his Mother was dead once before, but this was so much worse. To have seen it with his own eyes...  
  
“No.” Harry was looking at him with wide and honest eyes, “Draco, your Mother’s alive.”  
  
“But I saw …” He could hardly bring himself to hope, but Harry would never lie to him about something like that.  
  
“A body bind, with a slow acting curse. I think the healers said, Carnem Mors? If that means anything to you? She’s in St Mungos, and she’ll probably be in there for a few weeks, but she’s alive and she’ll pretty much make a full recovery.” It did mean something to him, it was a slow acting curse that ate away at someone's flesh from the outside in, very dark and very difficult to reverse.  
  
“Pretty much?” Draco asked, Harry winced.   
  
“There might be some spell damage to one of her legs, where the spell hit, but she should still be able to walk. She might need a cane though.” Draco didn’t care, he was just glad that his Mother was alive, and would be well.  
  
“Who else?”  
  
“The Lestranges.”  
  
“Which ones?”  
  
“All of them.”  
  
“How?” He remembered Bellatrix binding him with ropes, standing behind him as Voldemort tore through his mind but he had no recollection of the Lestrange brothers even being there.  
  
“Rabastan took a curse from Moody and stumbled back into an Avada and Rodolphus fell through the veil. As for Bellatrix, the magic you released blasted her back against a wall, she died on impact.”  
  
“I killed someone?” He shouldn’t be this affected by hearing that, she killed his Father and she used the Cruciatus on him. She deserved it more than anyone else he could think of, “Do I need to talk to the Aurors?” Harry chuckled.  
  
“Draco, you stopped someone who has killed and maimed dozens of people, someone who just escaped from Azkaban. You’re not in any trouble whatsoever. The Minister arrived just as you released the magic, everyone saw what happened.”  
  
“Oh.” He fell silent once more.  He was alive. His Mother was alive. Harry and his friends were alive. There weren’t going to be any repercussions for what they had done. So why was there something still hovering over his consciousness? Why was there a weight lingering just out of reach? He sat for a minute, staring at the cards and chocolates on the table next to him as he tried to decide what to ask first.  
  
“How long have I been out?”  
  
“A week, you needed a lot of rest. I think Pomfrey put you in an induced Coma for the first couple of days, she said it would have been too dangerous for you to wake up.”  
  
“Why?” He certainly felt fine.  
  
“Can you feel your magic?” Come to think of it … he couldn’t. He also couldn’t feel Harry’s. It usually rose to meet his touch, like the kiss of a lover. But Harry had been holding his hand for at least ten minutes by this point and he hadn’t felt a thing. His eyes widened and his hands shook. Had he made them both Squibs? He knew that releasing that much magic was a bad idea, he should have known what would happen when your magical core was snuffed out.  
  
“Don’t panic,” Harry let go of his hand to haul himself up onto the bed next to him, “It’s just severe magical exhaustion. For both of us.” He smoothed Draco’s hair back again from where he was perched on the edge of the bed facing him, “Pomfrey says it’ll take a few weeks to replenish, until then, no magic.”  
  
“No magic?” He looked at Harry, horrified.  
  
“At all. She’s confiscated our wands. But she said that being at Hogwarts will help because of the innate magic in the castle.” Harry was tucking his hair back once again and Draco wanted more than anything to spell it into place.  
  
“If I’m okay and everything’s fine… Why am I supposedly in pain?”  
  
“Ah…” Harry paused once again and Draco just raised an eyebrow to hurry along his floundering, “Well you forced a lot more magic through your body than it had previously been used to, you ended up blowing your magical channels wide open.”  
  
“How is that even possible?” He gaped.  
  
“Hermione’s working on it. But I wouldn’t worry about it too much, it’s all fixable and you should be more than capable of handling it when it returns.”  
  
“What do you mean … it? My magic?” Harry looked pained once again. Draco cursed his stupid body for being so broken, he wished he could have been there for all of these conversations. Harry must have had to meet with multiple Healers and Medi-Wizards, he must have been in and out of meetings with Dumbledore and Pomfrey. All while he had been sleeping through it all.  
  
“We kind of did something unheard of.”  
  
“Is this something that we need to add to the list of ‘Impossible things that Harry Potter does’?”  
  
“Definitely.”  
  
“Do you remember what I said in the Ministry? About how it wasn’t your magic and my magic anymore, it was-”  
  
“Our magic.” Draco interrupted. Harry fell silent, watching the way Draco stared at a single point over his shoulder, trying to figure out the next part of the puzzle, “Holy shit… _ Our _ magic.” His eyes shot to Harry’s, “We’re sharing magic now?” Harry nodded, “You mean…forever?” Harry nodded again, “How do you know?”  
  
“I can feel it. You will too, once you have healed enough to come off the potions.”  
  
“What does it feel like?”  
  
“It feels like you.” Harry leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Draco’s forehead.  
  
“Mr Malfoy,” Harry jumped off the bed with a blush when Madam Pomfrey bustled down the length of the Hospital wing with a tray of potions hovering next to her, “I trust Mr Potter has filled you in on everything.”  
  
“Most things.” Harry murmured next to him. His eyes shot to the right to meet with Harry’s, there was more?  
  
“Very good, these are your next potions Mr Malfoy,” She began to run Draco through the multiple potions on the tray, telling him what they were for and why he needed them. But he had long since checked out of the conversation. Harry was standing next to him looking tired and run down. Draco couldn’t imagine that he had been able to catch up on very much sleep considering his own predicament. Harry didn’t strike him as the type to disappear up to the tower for a long sleep when his Boyfriend was unconscious in the hospital wing.   
  
He took each potion from Pomfrey one at a time and knocked them back, without looking at the gross colours he was ingesting or thinking about how disgusting most of them tasted.  
  
“After this Mr Potter will be able to continue with your afternoon massage.” Draco finally looked at her when she said that, his what? “Try to focus on the back of his right calf, and this point in his right arm, the scan is showing a knot that might prevent the proper re-formation of his magical channels.” Harry nodded and with a tight smile the Matron was walking away. Harry passed Draco another glass of water to wash down the taste of the potions which he gratefully downed in one long chug before saying anything.  
  
“Massage?” He asked with a raised eyebrow. Harry blushed instantly and he scrubbed a hand through his hair self consciously.  
  
“She wanted to bring someone in who could help your magical channels reform properly and quickly, by massaging out any blockages and knots that can be felt from the surface of the skin. I didn’t exactly want someone touching you like that, especially without your permission.”   
  
“So you volunteered?” Draco smirked, “Any chance to get your hands all over me I suspect.”  
  
“Oh of course, I just really fancy you when you’re knocked out.” Harry rolled his eyes, but he was glad that the bewildered and overwhelmed boy in front of him was finally turning back into the Draco Malfoy that he knew and loved.  
  
“Come on, turn over. I’ve not been able to get your back properly all week.” He nudged Draco’s leg, “Feel free to fall asleep as well, you might not feel tired but your body’s got a lot of healing to do.”  
  
The last thought that Draco had, before he drifted off with Harry’s hands pressing into his skin, was that he probably should have asked what that damned Prophecy had been about and why the hell had it been so important to the Dark Lord?


	55. Chapter 55

“Is he ever going to wake up?”   
  
“You know, I can kick you out right.” That was Harry, Draco identified hazily, and that part of his mind that had seemed so cold and distant yesterday almost shivered at the thought of Harry being so close.   
  
“You wouldn’t dare.” And that was Pansy. From the tone of her voice he could imagine her glaring at Harry from across the bed.   
  
“I will if you wake him up before he’s ready to wake up.” And Harry would sit up and fold his arms across that firm chest, he would pull himself up to his full height with his shoulders thrown back and he would look at her with those lovely green eyes which were just daring her to test him on this.

“Who gave you carte blanche over Draco’s medical decisions anyway?” Who had indeed? Draco had just thought that his Mother had been pulling the strings from her bed in St Mungos, Merlin knew she could command an army from her bedside nevermind taking care of her only son's medical needs. But come to think of it, keeping him at Hogwarts, refusing a medical professional to help his magic return safely…It was all very Harry like. His Mother would have hired the best of the best and would have him sequestered in a private room in St Mungos if it had been her decision.

“Another perk of being Soulmates apparently. Magic recognises me as Draco’s power of attorney. Not even the Ministry can override it, ancient magics Dumbledore says.” Well fuck, Draco thought. He had a point there.

“You’re not even of age.” Blaise was there too, it had been the first time he’d spoken and Draco was having trouble picturing the stoic Slytherin sitting next to his sick bed waiting for him to wake up. He supposed they all had changed that year.

“Magic doesn’t seem to care, apparently."

“Add that to the list of Impossible Things, Potter.” Draco murmured as he opened his eyes to look at the people around him. Harry was sitting to one side, leaning forward with his elbows resting on the bed next to his hip, with Pansy and Blaise sat at his other side diligently.

“It’s about time, we’ve been here for ages. Potter wouldn’t let us wake you up.”

“For good reason.” Harry grumbled quietly.

“Everyone’s talking about you. Not many people know the truth of course, most people think that you and Potter stormed the Ministry and took on the Dark Lord and a legion of his Death Eaters single handedly. But Potter was quick to assure us that it wasn’t anywhere near that dramatic.”

“I blew open my magical channels and managed to deplete not only my core but Harry’s as well, while facing You-Know-Who himself. I would say that’s pretty dramatic, and definitely worth gossiping about.”

“Right, well that must be why you’re the ‘ _ sweetheart’ _ of the Wizarding World now. The Nations power couple.”

“I’m what?” Draco laughed in disbelief as he slowly pushed himself up into a sitting position. Pansy waited until Harry had finished fluffing up pillows behind his back before she shoved that day's edition of the Daily Prophet under his nose, it was turned to the society pages. 

_ 'The mantle of Lord Malfoy Passes to the Prodigy Son' _

“Really? The Society pages are hardly worth their salt Pansy.” Draco scoffed.

“Actually…” She grinned evilly at him as she flipped to the front page of the paper.

_ 'The-Boy-Who-Lived Sequestered with Lord Malfoy Sweetheart in South of France' _

“Where are they even getting this information from?” Harry scoffed as he leaned forward to read the headline over Draco’s legs, “It’s not difficult to find out that we’re not in France.” Pansy reached into her bag, which must have been set down by her feet, and pulled out a copy of Witch Weekly and a couple more older copies of the Daily Prophet from the past week. She handed him the oldest one, published a week ago, the day after they went to the Department of Mysteries.

_ 'He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named Returns.  _ _ The-Boy-Who-Lived Survives Again' _

“They went all out on the hyphens in that one, didn’t they?” Harry commented.

Pansy handed him the copy of Witch Weekly.

_ 'How he won the heart of the Boy-Who-Lived.  _ _ An exclusive interview with the Friends and Family of Lord Draco Malfoy' _

“For fucks sake.” Harry said once he had read the big bold words across the special edition of the gossip magazine. Plastered across half of the front page was a photo of Harry from last Summer when he had to attend his hearing for underage magic, the Harry in the photo was scowling slightly and had his arms crossed over his chest in defiance. On the other side was a photo of Draco, it had to have been taken during the New Year's Eve Gala that his parents had thrown before Voldemort had returned, he was dressed to the nines and had posed with a haughty expression for the reporter who had come to take photos for the society spread.

“Do they have anything else better to do with their time?” Harry asked.

“No.” Blaise replied with a small smirk, “Besides, I thought you would prefer this over being called mental.” Harry considered it for a second before offering a half shrug, he really couldn’t say one way or another. He was just glad that people were finally listening to him.

“What’s been going on around here?” Draco asked, “What happened to Umbridge?” 

“She’s in St Mungos, they said someone erased half of the school year from her memories. They don’t know who, of course. But even if they did trace it back to someone,” Pansy’s eyes shined with hidden knowledge, “I think half of Hogwarts would offer to be an alibi. Nobody liked the old toad anyway.”

They were interrupted by Madam Pomfrey kicking out the two Slytherins so she could give him his usual doses of potions. She left Harry sitting by his side, whether that was because of Harry’s so called power of attorney and his apparent ability to legally make Draco’s medical decisions, or because she had simply given up, it was hard to tell. She once again talked him through the potions, handing them to him one at a time, while Harry busied himself with picking through a box of Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans.

“Do you mind?” Draco asked, once the matron had once again left them alone.

“Not really,” Harry grinned, “You hate Bertie Botts.” He tossed a brown one into his mouth and grinned, “Steak.” He shuffled through the baskets before pulling out a small bag of delicate spun sugar quills, “Here you go.”

“They’re no fun when you’re not in class.” Draco pouted.

“How about these then.” Harry reached into a bag that had been stuffed under his bed and handed him a tin, tied with a blue and gold ribbon. Draco grinned widely at Harry and tried not to make grabby hands at the the tin of truffles from Debauve and Gallais. Harry basked in Draco's happiness as he carefully pulled the bow open and popped a single truffle into his mouth.

“I thought so.” Harry smiled at him. 

“So…” Draco began, “I know there’s a lot you’re still not telling me.”

“Like what?” Harry asked, Draco could instantly place the guilt in his voice.

"What was the Prophecy?” Draco raised an eyebrow in question.

“Ah… I’ll go through it all when you’re fully recovered. But it basically boils down to, I have to kill Voldemort. Or he has to kill me. Either way, one of us has to die.” Harry picked at a loose thread from one of the sheets draped over Draco’s lap.

“Oh.” Draco said. Prophecies didn’t alway come true and there were always multiple ways to interpret one, but it certainly did explain a lot if it was true.

“There’s a bit to it, the wording is interesting. But it’s not important right now. I just want you to get better first and then we’ll talk about what we’re going to do about it.” Draco nodded, he didn’t want to let the subject drop so easily but with Harry’s easy admission that they would talk about it later he was certain that Harry wasn’t keeping him out of the loop for any significant reason, barring his recovery.

He thought about that night in the Ministry for a few more minutes. The memories that Voldemort had played with weighed heavily on his mind. There was the wrong version, and the right version. The wrong versions were the ones that Voldemort had twisted and changed to make Harry seem cruel and heartless, he could tell now that his biggest fear was of being rejected, worst of all being rejected by Harry. The right memories seemed almost hidden behind a cloud of uncertainty. But he knew that the Harry in the new memories wasn’t his Harry, he felt too wrong, too different, his words and his actions didn’t fit with the events that followed. Harry wouldn’t have dragged him close and snogged him senseless in the broom shed if he had insulted him and ordered him to leave the Quidditch pitch. He wouldn’t have taken Draco to bed and worshipped his body, if he had laughed cruelly at Draco when he had suggested they have sex.

“I’m sorry, Harry.” He finally said, his voice was quiet and deeply apologetic and Harry looked at him in confusion.

“Huh?” Harry was halfway chewing a bean and he swallowed it quickly, “What for?”

“I kept pushing you to learn Occlumency and I kept thinking that you weren’t able to shield your mind because you weren’t trying hard enough. But Voldemort tore through my defences like they were paper. I had no idea how powerful he would be.” Harry looked at him with a crease in his brow and a small shake of his head.

“Don’t be daft, Draco. I wouldn’t hold that against you, I’m not exactly known for my studious nature. I did try with Occlumency, but perhaps not as much as I could have done. But at least we know that it wasn’t the reason Voldemort was able to plant that dream in my mind. Your defences were always so much better than mine, if he could do that to you I wouldn’t have stood a chance.”

“I’m still sorry.”

“What did he show you?”

“What do you mean?” Draco asked lightly.

“You know what I mean.” He did, he just didn't want to admit it. Not right now.

“It doesn’t matter, I know it’s not real.” Harry gently nudged his shoulder with his knuckles and looked at Draco with those infuriating green eyes, “I’ll show you later, when I have my wand. I’ll extract the memory and put it into my Memory Orb.” He couldn't help but give in when Harry turned those eyes on him.

“What did he do?” Draco sighed when Harry didn't let the subject drop like Draco had hoped.

“He just…Twisted some memories. But I know what’s real and what’s not. The things he made you say…You wouldn’t in real life.” Draco explained slowly and carefully, trying not to let slip just how much it had affected him to hear Harry turning him down in the most cruel way possible.

Harry nudged him over to one side of the bed and he shuffled across carefully more than aware of what Harry intended to do. Trying not to put too much strain on his still tired limbs he heaved himself across to the other side of the bed so Harry could climb up next to him. He pressed the length of their thighs together and threw an arm around Draco's shoulders to tuck him into his side.

“I want you to show me everything when you feel better, alright? We’ll use the Orbs, we’ll be able to compare memories and figure out what it was that Voldemort messed with.” Draco nodded and rested his cheek against Harry’s shoulder, the movement sparked a frisson of heat from the edge of his mind.

“Do you think…” He trailed off mid-sentence, he hoped that what he was about to suggest was completely impossible because he didn’t even want to think about how it would affect him.

“What?” Harry encouraged.

“Do you think You-Know-Who left a piece of him inside of me?” Draco's voice was small and he couldn't keep the worry at bay.

“No! Why would you think that?” Harry leaned away from him, so that he could look Draco in the eye. Harry's forehead was creased from worry and his lips were tightly pressed together out of concern. He hoped that there hadn't been anything the Healers had missed during Draco's numerous examinations, but matters of the mind were finicky and anything could have happened without anyone realising it.

“I just…I keep feeling something. In the back of my mind.” He tried once again to grasp that foreign entity, “It wasn’t there before, and it doesn’t feel like me.” 

Harry was silent. He was staring at Draco. But his forehead had smoothed, and his lips had relaxed. He was looking at Draco knowingly, and Draco realised that Harry knew exactly what this was.

“What is it? What’s in my head?” Draco was starting to panic, “Is it him?” He pressed the heels of his palms to his eyes and tried to block out as much of his sight as possible. He didn’t want Voldemort to see this, he didn’t want his mind to be taken over again, “Harry, you need to go away. If it’s him then you’re not safe around me, he’ll be able to see through my eyes whenever he wants.”

“Draco,” Harry said gently. He reached up with careful hands and grasped Draco’s wrists, “Look at me.” He pulled Draco’s hands away from his eyes, “It’s not Voldemort.” He cupped Draco’s jaw, encouraging the blonde to look him in the eye, “I promise, it’s not Voldemort.” He whispered.

“What is it?” Draco hated how vulnerable he sounded. There was something wrong hovering in his mind and Harry knew exactly what it was and instead of telling him outright the damned Gryffindor was skirting around the subject, “It feels so wrong.”

“I’m sorry, Darling.” Harry sounded pained and Draco was finally torn from his own panic fuelled freak out, “It’s not meant to feel wrong. That’s my fault.” He stroked his thumb across Draco’s cheek, “I thought I was helping you. I didn’t want to burden you with this until you were well enough to deal with it.”

“I’m not a damsel in distress!” Draco snapped, even though he did feel rather damselly and rather distressed at that moment in time.

“I know. But your mind has just been absolutely ravaged by one of the most powerful Wizards alive and your body is only functioning because of a cocktail of potions. So forgive me for wanting to protect you from what I could.”

“Harry-”

“It’s me.” Harry said suddenly.

“What is?” Draco asked, confused.

“The presence in your mind. It’s me.”

“What? No it isn’t. Don’t be so-”

His head exploded with a mixture of pain and emotion.

_ He suddenly felt like the whole world was resting on his shoulders. He felt ashamed of rushing head first into danger. He felt guilty that he had dragged his friends into such a dangerous situation. He was worried that his friends would blame him, and would shun him away. He felt regret from not learning Occlumency. _

Externally Draco felt Harry pressing their foreheads together. He could feel the breath escape Harry’s lips as he whispered words that Draco couldn’t hear and couldn’t understand, because internally he was being flooded with emotions that just didn't fit.

_ He felt determined to fulfil his duty and carry out the demands of the Prophecy. There was hate there for Snape, who didn’t take his warning seriously. For Voldemort. For Umbridge. The indignation of being treated like shit for an entire year only for it all to be swept under the rug. But there was love there too. Overwhelming overpowering love. Love for his friends. Love for Draco.  _

It was the love that Draco felt the strongest and it helped the rest of it fall into place. The sense of wrong he had been feeling before faded into a sense of all encompassing rightness. This was Harry. He felt the weight of Harry’s responsibility, the guilt that Harry felt for leading his friends into danger, Harry’s regret, Harry’s hate and more than anything Harry’s love. 

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Just breathe. It’s okay.” Draco’s clouded mind finally cleared enough for him to hear what Harry was whispering. 

“What’s going on?” Draco asked, but he didn’t dare pull away from Harry’s touch and he didn’t open his eyes. He just let Harry’s emotions drift over him, now that he knew what was going on the pain was quickly fading. 

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know what it was doing to you. I didn’t realise that you would have thought it had anything to do with Voldemort. I didn’t realise that keeping it closed off would feel so wrong.”

“What is it? Why is this happening?” Draco's eyes were still clamped shut and his hands were still twisted into Harry's shirt as though he was hanging on for dear life.

“When we shared our magic the way we did we accepted the Soulbond, and everything that comes with it.” Harry said by way of explanation.

“I can feel you.” Draco said simply, his voice no more than a whisper.

“I know.” 

“Can you…?” Can you feel me? He wanted to ask, but the words were stuck in the back of his throat.

“Yes.” Harry, tilted his head down and finally slotted his mouth firmly over Draco’s and kissed him with a gentle force that Draco could only ever associate with Harry. The thrill of Harry’s passion, added to Draco's own delight at having his Boyfriend pressed against him. He and Harry had kissed hundreds of times, there was no reason why he was suddenly breathless. There was no reason why his cock was straining against his pyjama bottoms. This was just a kiss. A simple but wonderful kiss. 

He had once described Harry's magic as a pillar of fire, but the inferno of Harry's power was nothing compared to the great fervour that was being whipped up inside of them both. Draco felt almost weightless and utterly out of control of his own body as Harry's passion raged through him and crashed against his own. Their emotions, rather than battling for dominance, melded together and erupted from the corner of his mind like a stream of fiery magma. He felt like he was being filled, from his fingers down to his toes, with every nerve ending alighting with burning fire and his frayed magical channels prickling from the residual magical energy. It was good. It was  _ so _ good. If Draco had to try and describe it to someone he would probably say that it was like a series of mirrors reflecting their emotions back and forth until they were magnified by a hundred.

He didn’t mind that his head was being held at an awkward angle. He didn’t care that Harry was sitting half on top of him so that he could reach Draco’s mouth with his own. He only cared about the heat that was flooding through his body. He only cared about Harry. Harry and his mouth. Harry and his large hands which were cradling his jaw with a gentle tenderness. Harry and his delicious tongue, which was just starting to tease against his own. Harry who was currently ripping away from his mouth with a strangled gasp and a muttered - 

“Merlin fuck.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One chapter to go! Plus a cheeky little announcement ;) so please stay tuned after the next chapter.
> 
> The support has been absolutely overwhelming and I adore all of you!
> 
> Also, apologies if the format of this is all off, my laptop is failing me so when I get that sorted I'll go back and re-format everything. Hopefully it uploads alright though :)


	56. Chapter 56

Draco smoothed down his robe and straightened the knot in his green and silver tie. He had spent most of the last week in his pyjamas practically confined to the hospital wing and it felt good to finally be in normal clothes. Clothes that didn’t have an elasticated waistband. 

“Are you sure you’re up for this?” Harry asked, from where he was perched on the edge of the hospital bed that Draco had come to think of as his own.

“Harry, Madam Pomfrey took me off the potions days ago, I promise you I’m perfectly capable of walking down to the Great Hall.” He gave himself another once over in the tall mirror before nodding and turning to face Harry. He wished he had his Mirror with him, he always liked the way it would compliment his hair and the colour of his eyes every morning. He had expected it to get old fast but he still secretly enjoyed having a quick look in and hearing the same accolades about his physical appearance. And he really didn’t care if it made him sound vain, so what if he was, everyone liked compliments.  The echo of Harry’s lust was almost an afterthought in the back of his mind.

“Control yourself, Harry.” Draco rolled his eyes and tried to tamp down on the secret pleasure felt whenever Harry's lust got the better of himself. 

They had been learning to control the emotions that were being broadcast through their mental connection all week. They had soon realised that the all out radio silence that Harry had been doing when Draco had first woke up had made them both feel a little off. It wasn’t an entirely unpleasant sensation but it did give them a sense of wrongness that could only be soothed by re-opening the connection. Instead of a complete shut off, they had been practicing suppressing their emotions until they could feel only a small imprint through their bond. Harry had been glad for their Occlumency sessions, they might not have been much use against Voldemort but they were a really good base to help him learn how to control his side of their connection.

“Sorry.” Harry grinned at him, not at all sorry. He couldn’t help it really, he had always had a thing for Draco in his Slytherin uniform, it did things for him.

“Liar.” Draco scoffed.

He lifted his wand and waved it at his hair. Pomfrey had only returned their wands to them once Draco’s magical channels had stabilised enough to handle the influx of magic. They had both felt their magics building steadily over the past week, but unlike before they no longer needed to reach out to one another. Draco secretly missed the curl of magic under his palm wherever he took Harry’s hand into his own, but he knew that it wasn’t necessary any longer. Draco thought that they should have realised what magic wanted from them right from the very start, it seemed almost inevitable now that he realised what their magics had been yearning for. 

Harry felt the small rush of magic peeling away from his core when Draco spelled his hair back into its usual appearance. They had been cleared for first and second year spells only, and even with a couple of days of practice it still felt weird to feel magic rushing through him when he hadn’t cast a spell.

“So, ready for this?” 

“I need to get out of this Hospital, and I really don’t want to miss the leaving feast.” Draco tucked his wand into his robe and stepped up to Harry. He slotted himself between Harry’s legs and looked down at the Gryffindor who raised his hands to rest on Draco’s hips, but didn’t otherwise move. He smoothed down a particularly stubborn tuft of hair and huffed a breath out of his nose when the offending hair just sprung back into its previous position.

“No point, you know it does what it wants.” He smiled up into Draco’s eyes. The blonde just rolled his eyes before he leaned down and pressed his lips to Harry’s in a soft lingering kiss.

“You need to stop worrying about me. I’ll be fine. I’m literally going to be sat at the other side of the Great Hall.” Draco pulled back just enough to whisper.

“Force of habit.” Harry murmured against his mouth. The Oath had pushed him into protecting Draco for the past six months but now that they were so magically and emotionally entwined the Oath had dissipated by itself. After thinking about it, and after Hermione had helped him explain it to Harry, it did make sense. It was Draco’s magic that was holding Harry to the Oath and ‘Draco’s magic’ technically no longer existed.

“Are you both ready?” Hermione called from the open door to the hospital wing.

“Yeah, coming.” Harry said, he nudged Draco back and stood up before whispering, “But not the good kind.”

“You’re a brute.” Draco punched his arm and tried not to smile at Harry’s ridiculous pun.

“You love me.” Harry threw a grin over his shoulder as he headed to the double doors and towards his friends who had come to meet them.

“Unfortunately.” Draco rolled his eyes but proceeded to follow Harry out of the Hospital Wing. 

It seemed that all of their friends had come together, somehow. He never thought he would see Blaise Zabini standing shoulder to shoulder with a Weasley. Or that Pansy would be glancing at Luna’s radish earrings with barely concealed fascination.

“It’s your reintroduction to the general public, we  _ had  _ to be here.” Pansy had said as she linked their arms together and half dragged him down the corridor, ahead of the rest of the group. He didn’t ask Pansy about how her family would react if word got out that she was fraternising with him. He figured that would be a conversation for another day. But he found himself hoping for the best when it came to his two best friends, and since Blaise was now talking Quidditch maneuvers with the two youngest Weasleys he didn’t think that his hope was completely unfounded.

He looked over his shoulder to make sure that Harry was still with them. Harry met his eyes and smiled, just as a content happiness flared to life in the corner of his mind. Fuck, he loved this idiot so much. Harry only smiled wider. Draco rolled his eyes at the aforementioned idiot and tuned back into Pansy commenting that his hair was longer now and he should grow it out, “A style befitting the new  _ Lord Malfoy.”  _ She teased.

“Lord Malfoy, my arse.” Harry scoffed from behind them.

“Pur-lease,” Pansy glanced over her shoulder, “We all know you would love a Lord Malfoy in your arse.” Harry guffawed while Draco blushed.

They made it to the Great Hall in good time, arriving just as the students were filing in and taking their seats.

“You guys go ahead.” Harry nudged Hermione towards the doors and the other followed her, leaving Draco and Harry standing on the bottom step of the main staircase. Harry’s hand found its way to Draco’s and he threaded their fingers together as a form of solidarity and support.

“Ready?” He asked, and Draco didn’t need to say anything, his nerves were firing down their bond at an insane rate, he hadn’t been in front of so many people in weeks and he didn’t know what their peers thought about the insane claims in the newspapers. Would he be welcomed? Shunned? Ignored?

“You’ll be just fine.” Harry kissed him on the temple, “No one here is against you anymore.”

Draco looked up the two inches it took to reach Harry’s eyes.

“You remember what I said to you the very first time we kissed.” Draco asked, and Harry nodded, “I was right you know, we did get ourselves into a whole load of trouble.” Harry chuckled and pressed a kiss to his lips.

“I wouldn’t change it for the world.” 

XxX


	57. Announcement

Announcement

Firstly, I'd really like to say a massive thank you, the support has been overwhelming. When I first started this I barely expected to finish it nevermind have it turn into this huge monster it eventually became. 

Secondly, as some of you have guessed I am absolutely working on a sequel. It wasn't planned but all of your Kudos and Comments have really spurred me on. 

I won't be posting anything until I've finished writing it though, luckily for you all I'm pretty much halfway through. I had hoped to start posting by the end of August but my laptop gave me the Blue Screen of Death as I was updating yesterday's chapter. I'm going to keep writing on my phone but I do find it more difficult to focus and stay on point so it's taking me longer to complete chapters. But I refuse to give up! It just might take a little longer for me to start posting.

If you want to know when I've posted the sequel please please please Subscribe to this fic or Subscribe to me, because I'll post a new chapter on this fic when I upload the first chapter, just so it's easy for you all to find and keep track of. 

I honestly love all of you, I've had readers who have commented on every chapter since the very first one and I always waited for your reactions whenever I posted a new chapter. I hope all of you, and all of my new readers, will follow me to the sequel and enjoy more of my version of Harry and Draco.

And just a little summery to keep you interested...

\---

**The Forgotten Promise**

_ “You were worried I'd forget about you? Even if I had forgotten how much you meant to me. My magic would still react this way and I would be obsessed with finding out why. I would have found my way back to you eventually.” _

Eventually Draco had once said...But Harry was getting tired of waiting for eventually. 

\---


	58. A Forgotten Promise

A Forgotten Promise now live!

Completed and updated daily (as much as possible).

Thank you for your patience, I've been working on this since I updated the last chapter of A Binding Promise, but laptop problems meant I was waiting a month for a repair and then a month for another repair and then finally they replaced it. So it took a lot longer than expected to get this out to you.

I await your responses to this new fic and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for taking this journey with me.  
  
Follow the link to the Series or the link posted below to find A Forgotten Promise.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/27677851

All my love

Emerald.VS.Silver


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